The story starts in a music store in Sugarland, Texas, where then high school freshman Andrew Shaver had walked in looking for a trumpet for middle school band, and he walked out with a guitar and a new purpose.
Through his high school years and into college, where he minored in music, Andrew played guitar on worship teams and local Texas country bands before taking the plunge on moving to Nashville to make records. With only knowing one person in Nashville before making the move, Andrew knew he had to start networking and building more connections quickly. Thankfully, one of Andrew’s friends in Texas “knew a guy,” and that’s how he found himself connected with Ryan Tyndell, co-writer of Eric Church’s popular hit, Springsteen. That was the beginning of an unofficial internship for Andrew, where he began the journey into producing and songwriting.
Songwriters often write with the intent to reach somebody, to make someone feel something. One particular song that Andrew co-wrote with Doc West and Matt Marinchick, “Forever Didn’t Last Too Long,” reached a man who had his own story to tell. The man was in the process of separating from his wife, when he heard this song for the first time. Touched by the lyrics and the nostalgic melody, he listened to the song several times and soon felt moved to reconcile with his wife versus heading for divorce. After therapy and some soul searching, the couple was well on their way to mending their broken relationship when tragedy struck. The man’s wife was killed in a head-on collision. Amidst his grief, the man reached out to Doc to share his story with them about how their song continued to be a comforting presence to him in the darkest of times. This was Andrew’s first realization that “Wow, something I wrote is actually impactful in somebody’s life.”
The impact of Andrew Shaver’s music has continued to stretch further and further; in fact, it has stretched into other countries. One of his career highlights has been taking the honorable opportunity to perform concerts for armed forces overseas. Andrew has been on 9 international tours with artist Rachel Lipsky to bring musical entertainment to countries such as Afghanistan, Kuwait, Guam, Portugal, Spain, Qatar and more. According to hospital personnel in Qatar, for decades, their concerts have provided a much need reprieve and significantly decreased mental health crises in the military for weeks aft
What are some other career highlights? So far, Andrew has opened for artists such as Joe Diffie, Charlie Daniels, Gretchen Wilson and Blake Shelton. He was also the Hard Rock Rising Competition winner with artist Rachel Lipsky in 2017, as well as the Pepsi Southern Gulf Coast original winner with Rachel Lipsky in 2014.
Throughout his Nashville journey, Andrew has learned some more valuable lessons, such as “Don’t write about the trends, because the trends will change” as well as “If you can think of anything else you want to do, don’t do music. If music is what you love, it’s what you should be doing.” Taking it all to heart, music is what Andrew has been doing with people such as Brian Beihl from Big Daddy Weave, Larry Craft from Love & Theft, Matt Menefee (Big & Rich, Mumford & Sons). All of them are featured on his self-produced second single, “Without Her,” available now on Spotify.
When he isn’t busy with music, you can catch Andrew creating celebrity profiles on famousbirthdays.com (yes, seriously!), or wedding planning with his fiancé, Carly Layne. Their single “Too Little Too Late” is dropping soon!
If you’re in Nashville, make sure to catch Andrew on Broadway or Printer's Alley with various local musicians. You can find details of his schedule and upcoming music on his website and social media links below.