Review: Andrew Belle in Chicago
The first time I heard Andrew Belle’s voice, I was sitting on a patio in Arizona, enjoying Whiskey and my brother. He said, ‘have you ever heard of Andrew Belle?’, I hadn’t and he played Sister for me. It’s a song I’ve held close to my heart ever since. Sister was released on Belle’s 2013 album Black Bear, the album where his sound began to change from acoustic to just a little more depth behind his acoustic guitar. With a few albums in-between, Belle released Nightshade in August of 2021. Listeners still get his deeply personal lyrics but with now, we have a new lo-fi electric sound mixed in.
In an article with American Songwriter Magazine, Belle explains that the inspiration for the album came from his wife being told that they could no longer eat nightshades. The songs, though, are far more than just lamenting over vegetables. Belle has, once again, delivered us an album that makes us feel something. Each track seems to be a delicate exploration of the dark parts of us. Belle ends the record asking “Why is my head like that?” in You’re the Sea - a question that many of us confronted during the beginning of the COVID pandemic, as our minds would wander into darkness, seemingly, collectively.
In September 2021, Belle embarked on a tour of a few small venues -- we caught him at Schuba’s in Chicago, with his friend Jon Guerra. The set was a collection of acoustic songs that showed us his roots (in Belle’s, from what we’d heard, favorite room to play). It was truly special to stand in a room full of masked up folks and watch him display his heart to us. We all dove a little deep with Belle that night.
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