Devon Anderson

Hello, and thanks for stopping by
My name is Devon Anderson, and I'm from sunny Tampa Bay, where I live with my wife, Tracy, and my two sons, Dylan(5) and Jamie.(3) When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I'm a "stay at home dad", which is the most important job I'll ever have. Mostly, I do a lot of laundry and make a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Other than that, I write music. I released my debut CD in 2005, which is a commentary on my everyday life experiences up to that point. Some of the songs on the CD were written almost twenty years ago, and some are quite recent. A guy in Des Moines once told me I needed to live for a while before I'd have anything to sing about, and I guess that's true, which is why it took me so long to finally make a record

I don't really know how to categorize the style of my songs. My main influence early on was my Dad and his collection of old country and bluegrass records. I'm still very much drawn to the Louvin Brothers, Stanley Bros., Osbornes,(Bobby and Sonny, not the Englishman..although he came later)Johnny Horton, Eddie Arnold, Jim Reeves, etc. As I got older, I spent a lot of time listening to Jackson Browne, Gordon Lightfoot, The Eagles and James Taylor. Then in college I was into The Dead, Floyd, CSN&Y, Dire Straits, Buffett, etc. I think there are influences from all them to some degree in my writing

I was quite lucky to have some heavy hitters contribute to the recordings; my good friend and guitar guru Steve Grisham, (Outlaws, Ghost Riders) drummer Pug Baker, (Jimmy Spheeris,The Knack) keyboardist Barry Rapp, (Henry Paul Band) guitarist Tommy Crain, (Charlie Daniels Band) and a bunch of top notch guest musicians from Tampa Bay's local scene. I gratefully extend my thanks to them all for making the record what it is. I also must mention my good friends Eugene Foley, from Foley Entertainment in New Jersey, and Lynne Turner Connolly from HMG/Nashville, who provided tremedous behind the scenes encouragement

I'm currently working feverishly on my second record, and with any luck it should be released within the next couple of months. Most of the players from the first disc are back to contribute, plus a few outstanding additions. It will feature somewhere between fifteen and seventeen new songs, mostly inspired from the perspective of being a little older, hopefully wiser, and a father

I've been a "band guy" most of my life, starting in my home town of Davenport, Iowa, and then Kansas, Des Moines and finally Florida. After twenty-some years of playing clubs, I'm now semi-retired from the performing scene to concentrate on my family and my songwriting. I do still get out a few times a month to play with my band "The Local Tourists", just for fun and to keep my chops up...and to hear something other than the Spongebob theme song

Many thanks to Ourstage.com for creating a great forum. I've enjoyed discovering tons of great music, and I wish everyone the best of luck. Thanks for listening