Anderson East | |
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East performing at the Renwick Mansion in Davenport, Iowa
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Background information | |
Birth name | Michael Cameron Anderson |
Born | July 17, 1988 |
Origin | Athens, Alabama U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels |
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Website | andersoneast |
Michael Cameron Anderson, (born July 17, 1988) known professionally as Anderson East, is an American rhythm and blues musician from Athens, Alabama, later based in Nashville, Tennessee. His song "Satisfy Me" was released in March 2015 and received consistent radio airplay. His major-label record debut, Delilah, was released on the Low Country Sound imprint via Elektra in July 2015.
East went to Athens High School in Athens, Alabama. East wrote his first song, called "Brains," which he played at his 7th grade talent show. Inspired by musician Ben Folds, East taught himself piano and started writing music in high school.
His grandfather was a Baptist preacher, his father sang in the church choir, and his mother played the piano in church when he was young.
East went to college in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at Middle Tennessee State University, studying music engineering. He moved to Nashville 2 years later.
East opened for Holly Williams and ended up playing guitar and singing harmonies with her. He worked as both a session musician as well as a recording engineer to make ends meet.
East began his musical career in 2009, self-releasing an album titled Closing Credits for a Fire under the name Mike Anderson. He then began recording under the name Anderson East with the release of an EP titled Fire Demos.
East's self-released debut album, Flowers of the Broken Hearted in 2012, was made up of two records: one record which he recorded in Los Angeles with producer Chris Seefried and session players Charlie Gillingham, Don Heffington and Rob Wasserman and a second record recorded in Nashville with Tim Brennan and Daniel Scobey. The record is a 15 songs long, and is made up of two CDs each with their own music genre: The White disc is made up of a progressive soul and Americana vibe, while the Red disc is darker and has more of a rock sound. He funded the record as a PledgeMusic project, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Water Aid, a nonprofit organization that brings water to communities that don't have clean drinking water.