Life & Work with Andrew Mitch

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Mitch.

Hi Andrew, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always loved music, and I knew that it was what I was ultimately going to pursue in life. I remember my dad would play worship songs on the guitar when I was about six years old, and I could just listen to him play and sing for hours. I started picking up the guitar and teaching myself when I was twelve, and in high school, I began writing songs and learning how to produce/record my stuff. To this day, all the music I release is self-written, produced, recorded, and edited in my bedroom. Professionally, releasing my original songs has always been my goal!

How I ended up in Nashville is a bit of a whirlwind. While I was spending all my spare time on music, I thought that my “day job” was going to be in science. Many of my family encouraged me to pursue my PhD or MD, so I received my Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of Dallas and briefly pursued my PhD in chemistry at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. I realized that my true passion was in songwriting, producing, and being an artist – so I left graduate school in 2021, got a job serving tables, and saved the money to move to Nashville in the fall of 2022!

I grew up in a very conservative Catholic family where anything outside our household bubble simply wasn’t talked about. I, like many young queer people in religious families, grew up hating myself and just wishing it all would go away – that maybe I could just be “normal” like my parents and siblings.

Eventually, I came out as gay to my family, and I felt like God was calling me to share those stories with the world. I felt like somebody needed to hear that they were not alone. I ended up in country music because I fell in love with the storytelling aspects of this genre – no other area of music can tell stories or convey emotion like country music can. And I felt like this genre does not have nearly enough LGBT+ representation – so telling our stories in country music made the most sense to me!

In August 2023, I released some snippets of my debut single, “All in My Head,” on social media, and my DMs became just flooded with people coming out to me, sharing their own stories, telling me that they were inspired to propose to their lifelong partners, and I even received a message saying my song inspired a listener to adopt a child! (That last one made me cry for sure!).

My first single peaked at #94 on the iTunes country chart, and these listeners funded the first half of my debut album: “feeling outside the lines (side a)” which just released in March of this year! I’ve only been in Nashville for a year and a half – to see so much love for someone who is still very new to town is incredibly humbling.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t think music has ever been called a “smooth road” for anyone in Nashville. I had never been to this city before moving here – I felt like God was calling me here, and so I basically just packed my stuff and moved!

I’m still learning my way around, and sometimes being the “new guy in town” comes with its own labels and struggles. Like you have to “earn” your spot here. It certainly gets tough trying to book shows and get my name out there, but I just keep my head down and focus.

In terms of being LGBT+ in country music, I thankfully haven’t run into too much backlash. I’ve received the occasional hate comment here and there, but for the most part, it’s been very positive! The most difficult struggles are honestly in the mind: “What if they don’t like me?” “What if I’m wasting my time?” etc. It’s easy to tune out what other people say, but silencing your own thoughts can be a little harder!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a country music singer, songwriter, and producer. Specifically, I sing about personal experiences from being both openly queer and Christian. And that, I would say, sets me apart from so many other country artists.

First of all, most of the country music community doesn’t sing about LGBT+-related topics. Second, while there are a lot of LGBT+ artists (across all genres), I never felt like I could really relate to any of them…. It was almost like our stories were only being told at the surface level and that any relationship with the Christian faith was completely tossed out and rejected. I’m not trying to uproot any traditions or stop on anybody’s cowboy boots, but I think that there are some REAL stories that REAL people want (or maybe need) to hear.

I’m still very much getting started, but I primarily built my fanbase off my debut single, “All in My Head”, which peaked at #94 on the iTunes country charts!

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I may be a creative artist, but I have a very strict business mindset when it comes to releasing my music and everything around it. I believe that with the right tools and strategy, anybody can be an artist.

That being said, I really didn’t believe that luck was a real thing until I posted a video about my debut single releasing. A few people started sharing it, and the next thing I knew, I was getting thousands of followers and pre-saves every single day.

It was wild seeing the kid from Ohio go from 200 Instagram followers to suddenly almost 15k off of one song. I thank God every single day for those moments and for having His hand in that release.

Contact Info:

• Website: andrewmitchmusic.com
• Instagram: @andrewmitchmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewmitchmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@andrewmitchmusic
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewmitchmusic

Image Credits
Andrew Mitch Music