Andrea England

Early life, education

Andrea England was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and raised in Sand Point, Guysborough County. She made her singing debut at the age of three, and throughout her youth frequently performed in local concert settings, singing and playing piano. She was heavily influenced by Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill in 1995, while attending college in Ottawa. According to England, “I’d always been a writer, a poet, and I did a literature degree, but I never combined words and music. When I heard Jagged Little Pill, I felt like I had permission to write about stuff that was in my head. I thought, ‘I can be brutally honest, confessional even.’” She attended St Francis Xavier University and Dalhousie University before pursuing her songwriting career.

Eyes Wide Shut (2001)

In 2001 England released her track Eyes Wide Shut to some friends she had at the Ottawa University radio. Later that week she was gravely injured in a car accident. After going home to Nova Scotia to recover, she learned the song had charted at No. 17 on a local chart. Her EP with the single, Heart Wide Open, was released shortly after. During the year it took England to recover, she couldn't play piano and so instead learned guitar, using the instrument to write a number of songs for her upcoming album, Lemonade.

Lemonade (2005)

Upon its release in 2005, her debut album Lemonade garnered three Nova Scotia Music Award nominations, including Female Artist & New Artist Recording of the Year, and she won the Pop Rock Award at the Toronto Independent Music Awards. The lead single "Lemonade" was an honorable mention in the pop category at John Lennon International Songwriting Competition. England was diagnosed with a heart-related illness in 2006, and took several years off from recording.

Hope & Other Sins (2012)

Andrea's sophomore album, Hope & Other Sins, was produced by Colin Linden in Nashville and released on June 26, 2012. A review by No Depression praised the songwriting, emotion and musicianship of the album, and called the songs "real country," also stating that "Despite still flying below their radar, Andrea deserves...special attention for her detailed, concise writing ability and fine voice."

The track ”Picture of You” was inspired by her visit to Ground Zero five years after 9/11, and is a part of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Artists Registry.

Hope & Other Sins was on RMR's top Folk chart for 8 straight weeks after its release in June 2012. On December 1, 2012, the album reached #27 on the Roots Music Report Folk and Roots Country Radio Charts. It hit # 1 on Galaxie's Folk/Roots Chart, and for 2012 was #5 on top 50 most played Canadian albums airing on Galaxie Folk-Roots. The album also hit #29 on Cashbox Magazine / Roots Music Report Top 50 Folk Albums chart. The album's first unofficial single, "Picture of You", reached #37 on the Roots Music Report Folk & Roots Country Radio Charts.

Placements, songwriting

England wrote or cowrote all songs from Eyes Wide Shut, Lemonade and Hope & Other Sins. A John Lennon International, USA International Songwriting Competition, and NSAI Songwriting Competition award winner, Andrea's songs have appeared on the TV series Joan of Arcadia, Beautiful People, Dawson's Creek and Party of Five, in feature films Hooked on Speedman (Canada) and Piazza Gnocchi (Italy), and have been recorded by numerous artists, including pop artist Nicole Scherzinger.

England is also a professional songwriter for other artists, contributing to the track "Casualty" on the Interscope album Killer Love, by Nicole Scherzinger. The album hit #8 on UK billboard. England is working with a number of developing artists in Canada, Nashville and Los Angeles, and has numerous cuts upcoming on albums to be released in 2014.