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By ninth grade, Grammer taught himself to write songs on his dad's guitar, with a first group, Out of the Blue, which played his first original composition, "Doorstep," at a battle of the bands contest. Learn 50 things you missed about Andy Grammer.
1. He was a hustling street performer on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.
2. Now he became a Platinum-selling recording artist.
3. Andy Grammer was discovered by Steve Greenberg and signed to S-Curve Records.
4. With his 2011 self-titled debut album, Grammer became the first male pop star in a decade, since John Mayer in 2002, to reach the Top 10 at Adult Pop Radio on his first two singles, "Keep Your Head Up" and "Fine By Me," certified Platinum and Gold respectively, selling more than 1.5 million downloads combined.
5. In just a few short years, Grammer has gone on to sell over 100,000 albums, play sold out venues nationwide.
6. Performed onstage with Taylor Swift, Train, and Colbie Caillat.
7. Appeared on an array of national TV shows, received major song placements in film and TV, received two BMI Pop Music Awards.
8. He graced the cover of national touring trade magazine Pollstar and was present at their annual awards show, among many other accomplishments.
9. The son of a Grammy-nominated children's performer Red Grammer, he often joined his dad on-stage to sing, promoting his fierce ambition to succeed.
10. His father instilled his work ethic and taught him to respect his audience. "I saw what it took to cultivate an artistic career," Grammer says.
11. By ninth grade, Grammer taught himself to write songs on his dad's guitar, with a first group, Out of the Blue, which played his first original composition, "Doorstep," at a battle of the bands contest.
12. Hearing the 1998 Grammy-winning album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill "shifted things inside of me and I loved it," says Grammer, who cites Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Common and Coldplay among his musical influences on his mix of hip-hop, acoustic singer/songwriters and piano rock.
13. His self-titled S-Curve Records debut was the product of intensive, deliberate practice and a personable performance style that involved entertaining on the streets of Santa Monica with his car battery-powered amplifier and acoustic guitar.
14. His background singing on the streets helped him hone his performance style, and clued him in on audience expectations.
15. His platinum debut Top 5 hit single "Keep Your Head Up"was admonishing himself to maintain the faith in the wake of frustration. The groundbreaking interactive video - a partnership between VEVO, S-Curve and innovative tech company Interlude - won an MTV O Award for Most Innovative, topping Arcade Fire, Robyn and OK Go!
16. The clip starred The Office's Rainn Wilson, whom Grammer calls "a gracious, amazing guy," he met through a former roommate. "Keep Your Head Up" has been heard on several TV shows and films, including a prominent placement in the movie "Pitch Perfect" where the main characters sang the song.
17. He is a Los Angeles native singer-songwriter known for his vibrant pop/rock/soul mix.
18. Emerging as one of the biggest success stories in 2012, Andy has performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (three times).
19. He was named the first male pop star, since John Mayer in 2002, to reach the Top 10 at Adult Pop Radio on his first 2 singles, "Keep Your Head Up" and "Fine By Me", both certified Platinum and Gold respectively with more than 1,500,000 singles sold together.
20. It's widely known that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert at anything. Andy Grammer logged his 10,000 hours of practice on the streets of Los Angeles.
21. With his car battery-powered amplifier and acoustic guitar in tow, Grammer managed to sing his way from the streets to the center of the music industry.
22. While much of his music is upbeat, Grammer is quick to add that he's hardly "pink and fluffy." I'm not intentionally trying to be positive, I'm just trying to be real."
23. In fact, Grammer wrote "Keep Your Head Up" as a letter of encouragement to himself after he'd spent an exhausting day street performing and had little money to show for it.
24. Grammer grew up in a musical household.
25. His father, Red Grammer, is a Grammy-nominated children's performer who gladly indulged his son's desire to get on stage...to a point. "My dad would bring me up to sing with him. I'd just have a couple of lines," Grammer remembers. "Afterwards, I'd say, 'Dad, I think I'm going to need a bigger part in your show because I nailed that. Seriously, it was intense. I can see it in their eyes, they want more of me.' I was six or seven and he just laughed and laughed."
26. His dad gave Grammer an insider's insight into what happens off stage as well. "The most important thing I learned from my father about being a musician was the work ethic," Grammer says. "He worked really hard, he traveled all across the country. I saw his respect for his audience, respect for himself. I saw him take days off where he wouldn't talk to rest his voice. I saw the work it takes to cultivate an artist's career."
27. In 9th grade, Grammer picked up his dad's guitar and taught himself to write songs. "I knew one chord, so I was like, 'I'm going to write the coolest song with one chord ever'," Grammer laughs. His first band, Out of the Blue, got off to an auspicious start after playing some covers as well as Grammer's first original song, "Doorstep," at a battle of bands contest. "We did not win...at all," Grammer says. "I thought it was going to be a big concert moment. It was fun, but it was like, 'This is really hard and we suck."
28. Now based in Los Angeles, Grammer began playing everywhere he could, including gigs at more than 100 colleges and universities, as well as birthday parties and high school dance classes.
29. He grew up in Chester, New York, graduating from Monroe-Woodbury High School.
30. As a child, he learned to play the trumpet and later the guitar and piano.
31. He began writing songs at 15.
32. At 20, he left Binghamton University and returned to the Los Angeles area.
33. In 2007, he graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a B.A. in Music Industry Studies.
34. In July 2012, Grammer married recording artist Aijia.
35. He is a member of the Bahá'í Faith.
36. He takes inspiration for his guitar from Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Jack Johnson.
37. His piano is influlenced by Coldplay, The Fray and OneRepublic.
38. When it comes to lyrics his is inspired by Common, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
39. Grammer's popular songs include: "Honey, I'm Good", "Keep Your Head Up", "Fine By Me", "Lunatic", "Ladies", "Biggest Man in L.A.", "Numbers", "Stepping Stone", "Couple More Sleeves", "Fireflies", and "The Pocket".
40. Grammer's debut video "Keep Your Head Up", which featured actor Rainn Wilson, was an iTunes Video of the Week in 2010.
41. He performed the song on The Rachael Ray Show on November 17, 2010. It has since debuted at No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100 Grammer's debut album sales for the first week earned him the No. 1 spot on the Billboard New Artist Chart.
42. Grammer opened for Plain White T's for the second leg of their "Wonders of the Younger" tour in the spring of 2011.
43. In January 2011, Grammer was named an "Artist to Watch" by Billboard magazine.
44. Grammer performed at SXSW 2011, playing BMI's Acoustic Brunch, where he was one of the artists contributing to a recording produced by Hanson to benefit the victims of the 2011 Japan earthquake.
45. Grammer won MTV's "O Music Awards" for most innovative video for his "Keep Your Head Up" video on April 25, 2011.
46. Grammer's debut album, Andy Grammer, was released on June 14, 2011 on S-Curve Records.
47. The self-titled album was produced by Matt Wallace (Maroon 5), Matt Radosevich, Dave Katz,and Sam Hollander (Gym Class Heroes).
48. Grammer joined Natasha Bedingfield on her Less is More Tour, starting June 2011, and Colbie Caillat on her U.S. and Canada tour, starting August 2011. Grammer opened shows with Kate Voegele and Kevin Hammond.
49. The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles featured Grammer for the museum's first installment of its homegrown local artist series starting May 2011.
50. On August 31, 2015, Grammer was announced as one of the celebrities who will compete on the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd until an ankle injury forced her to withdraw. His new partner is Allison Holker.
Source: andygrammer.com/, Wikipedia.org
