Andrew Calhoun

Biography

Andrew Calhoun (born November 30, 1957, in New Haven, Connecticut, United States) is an American folk singer-songwriter based in the Chicago area.

Career

Calhoun was inspired to become a musician when his mother introduced him to some of her high school students who played guitar. Early influences include Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Joseph Conrad, C.S. Lewis and Mississippi John Hurt.
In 1992, he founded the artists cooperative record label Waterbug Records, stating "Waterbug is largely an artists' co-op. All the artists own their recordings and publishing rights. We are working cooperatively to help each other get heard."
Calhoun's performances include works by various songwriters and poets, Anglo-Scottish ballads in original translations from dialect, African American spirituals, and his own varied songbook. He is working on a Robert Burns songbook which will challenge several decisions on tune sources and variants accepted by scholarship since James Dick's work in 1903. He performs solo and in a duo with his daughter, Casey Calhoun, who sings.
In 2012, Calhoun received the Lantern Bearer Award for 25 years of service to the folk arts by the Folk Alliance Regional Midwest. In 2014, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Woodstock Folk Festival.