Andrew Simple (Andrew Tyson Bissell) was born without much of a choice regarding his future in music. Examine his roots: an accomplished jazz trombonist and arranger for a father, and his maternal grandfather, Danny Dill—a Hall of Fame songwriter who penned the evergreen classics, “Detroit City” and “Long Black Veil,“ which have been recorded hundreds of times by artists as diverse as Mumford & Sons, Johnny Cash, Mick Jagger, Jerry Garcia, and the Dave Matthews Band. With that gene pool stacked against him, Simple simply succumbed to nature.

And it was only natural to nurture that nature by pursing music composition when his college years rolled around, minoring in audio production and engineering. Simple was soon forming various bands and earning his stripes touring the states. He became a much sought-after collaborator for major label artists.

Ever the artist, Simple was not content to only write for others, and began working on his own material, releasing an eponymous album in 2012 and an EP, Souvenirs, in 2013. In his spare time he scored or placed songs in major motion pictures (S.W.A.T. 2, Smoking Aces, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3),numerous movie trailers, network TV shows (Make It Or Break It, The Vineyard), national advertisements (Best Buy, XBOX, Subaru, Travelers Insurance) and nearly everything in between.

Although primarily known for his work as a Folk/Pop and Americana artist, Simple exorcises his inner rock-demons with his side project, The Phantoms. Their music can be heard on their debut EP, Make It Beautiful, and are currently in the studio recording their next album.

And yet another of Simple’s many collaborations is the band Giants of Industry (think: Foster the People, Grouplove, Imagine Dragons, Naked and Famous, etc…), to which he lends lead vocals. Simple adds, “ I was a big fan of the band, and they were going through some personnel changes and asked me if I wanted to sing. I couldn’t resist.” Giants is currently in the studio working on their debut album.

Meanwhile, Simple recently released his latest EP, titled “Onward” in September 2013. “This collection of songs is really close to my heart and basically represents the next logical step in my music’s progression”. His music, which is often favorably compared with Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, John Mayer, and Fleet Foxes, also draws on the quirky yet clever songwriting traditions of Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson and The Beatles. “I love recording… the concept of it, the art of it,” says Simple as he reflects on an expansive body of work which betrays a career still in its relatively early stages. “I am constantly in the studio, creating new songs virtually on a daily basis. I counted the other day that I’ve written and recorded over 500 songs in the past 3 years, and feel like I’m just getting started."