Chicago musician Andy Pratt continues to engage listeners on his second album, "Sweeter Than The Wine"

 

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

In making his followup album to his 2017 album “Horizon Disrupted” – produced by noted producer and musician Steve Albini – Chicago-based singer-songerwriter Andy Pratt decided he wanted to record the album in his home studio.

“Sweeter Than The Wine” was released on Sept. 9. To celebrate the album’s release and his 40th birthday, he performed Sept. 11 at The Hideout in Chicago.

I had the chance to talk to Andy about the new album.

Q – Great talking to you again. I know you performed on Sept. 11 at The Hideout for a CD release party for "Sweeter Than The Wine" and a 40th birthday bash. How did that go? 

Thanks! The show went great. I performed these songs with my friends Katie Andrick (violin), Jim Barclay (drums), and Joe Policastro (bass) and that alone meant everything to me.

Nothing is better than performing with people you love playing music with and genuinely enjoying their company off stage, as well. We had a nice listening crowd. It was a beautiful evening.

Q – Of course, this album is the followup to your debut album, "Horizon Disrupted." What goals did you have for this album? 

This was a record I had been planning on doing for some time now. A few years ago, before the pandemic, I became interested in analog synthesizers and drum machines.

I wanted to find a way to incorporate these into my songs. I had also been interested in home recording and wanted to make an entire record at my home studio.

Q – A few of the songs have a gypsy jazz feeling to them, most notably the song "Without You." Were you looking to explore new musical horizons on this album? 

I wasn’t specifically trying to explore new genres, but I do think some new ones crept onto the album by happenstance. There are definitely more story-based songs with fairly long narratives and half of the songs are in a minor key.

The minor songs you are referring to could be thought of as melodies with a Django Reinhardt feel, but that’s not what I was necessarily going for. I love Django, though!

Q – How would you say “Sweeter Than The Wine” compares lyrically to your first album? Did you set out to address themes on this album that you didn’t address on your first album?  

The majority of the songs are love songs. I seem to never get tired of listening to or writing love songs. I think, in the end, that’s what it’s all about.

And the other songs on the album are about childhood. That is a new theme in my writing, but not necessarily something I was deliberately putting out as a new subject to address. 

Q – You recorded the album at your home and you played almost all of the instruments on Sweeter Than The Wine. What made you want to go that route? 

For the past ten years or so, I was fascinated with the idea of home recording. I had initially just been interested in recording completely solo music, guitar and vocals or just guitar.

How I came to recording electric bass, synths, drum machines, etc.? I guess I just went down the rabbit hole. It was honestly a lot of fun.

Q – Do you have any dream projects or collaborations?

I think the next recording project or two I would like to do would be with a jazz trio, just guitar, bass, and drums in a studio. I might sing on a couple tracks too. And also a solo jazz guitar album.