Andrew Lipke

Philadelphia-based musician Andrew Lipke releases his debut album The Way Home… on February 20, 2007 through Drexel University’s student-run record label, MAD Dragon Records (Ryko/Warner Distribution). Produced by Emmy Award-winning composer and Drexel Professor Jim Klein, The Way Home… features Lipke’s melodically-focused compositions and powerfully emotional lyrics that bridge the gap between singer-songwriter and alternative rocker.
Written and arranged by Lipke, The Way Home… tastefully balances the love and pain inherent in all human relationships delving into intimate acoustic ballads, all out rockers and sweeping string arrangements. The album’s first track and forthcoming single “Untitled Song 1,” features an intense basic primal voice throughout the wordless chorus that builds to a heightened crescendo. “Check Your Mirror” is a melodic counterpart displaying irresistible melodies mixed with jangle guitar sweetness and understated strings that draw the listener further into his world. Lipke examines failed romance in the inspired rock anthem “The Fire” while an acoustic ballad “My One and Only,” emotes a definitive connection to his lyrics. Lipke says, “My songs are essentially a reaction to what’s going on around and inside me.” He sings about undying commitment in the darkly playful “Stick by You” and the string arrangements swell to a fevered pitch on the epic seven minute opus, “Standing Over You”. The Way Home’s… closing track “It’s Gone Out” draws from Lipke’s classical piano influence, completing the whole of all parts examined throughout the record.
Lipke started playing the piano at age of five while living in South Africa. After moving to America in 1987, he began writing songs on the guitar. Lipke’s musical endeavors, such as high school bands, during his teenage years fostered his passion for performing. “Performing for me is a chance to bring people into my world for a little while… it’s really a very sensual exchange of energy when the situation is right” states Lipke. After high school he moved to Philadelphia to earn a degree in Music Composition from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. During his college years, Andrew formed the band Metagroove, later known as Revisor, and over the next five years garnered regional and national acclaim for his gifts as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter with the group. Metagroove disbanded when Andrew opted to follow a burgeoning desire to create a more intimate vehicle for his music.
Influenced by everything from Bach, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin to modern-day musical pioneers like Radiohead and The Shins, Lipke wrote, arranged and produced his independent solo debut, Ghosts, in 2004. Stripping down his sound gave immediate focus to the range and power of his voice and brought an added clarity to subtle and inspired lyrics.
“I love music like I love light and air and other things I can’t live without. I remember hearing music in the car when I was five or six and being completely and totally transported to another dimension. I never get tired of trying to figure out the mystery of why music has so much power and the thrill of first hearing something in your head and later having the same sound come in through your ears is astounding, absolutely incredible… it never gets old.” Andrew’s affinity for music is heard and felt throughout every note and lyric in The Way Home…, and will be voiced in all of Lipke’s musical exploits for years to come.
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