The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band
is on hiatus (currently available for only very rare and select appearances while Amanda is completing her dental residency!)
After years of playing music together at home, Amanda and her dad Scott Anderson began performing together regularly in 2008, with Amanda handling most of the lead vocals and supplying sweet fiddle lines and swampgrass master Scott adding harmony and lead vocals as well as guitar and banjo. Along with mandolinist Lamont Goff, bassist Danny Smith, and master fiddler Christian Ward, the band serves up a variety of Americana, bluegrass, country, and folk flavors.
"Amanda Anderson has thrived under the gentle watch of her father and Gainesville musician-extraordinaire, Scott Anderson. Now the daughter-dad duo steps out in this thoughtful, timely collection of songs, "Another Day." Surrounded by slick musicians, their star is destined to rise over the great state of Florida and shine high over the Southeast. I’m proud to be their friend and fan." -Claire Lynch
Scott Anderson has been a fixture on the Southeastern bluegrass and gospel circuit for three decades. He began with the contemporary and Southern gospel of First Light, then played the traditional bluegrass sound of Tom Henderson's Bluegrass Parlor Band, followed by the driving grungegrass of Endless Highway , and the sweet gospel of Gentle River. Following the critical success of his first solo project Rivers, stints as banjoist and vocalist with The Jim Hurst Band and Keith Sewell, and a breakthrough CD project with his daughter Amanda on Another Day, Scott brought these influences together into the powerful acoustic sound and beautiful family harmony of the Amanda and Scott Anderson Band. With an All-Star cast Scott dredged up a swampy soup of originals and favorites on his latest project, Tales from the Swamp. Scott has also performed or recorded with Claire Lynch, Sam Bush, Vassar Clements, Larry Rice, Byron Berline, Adam Steffey, Sierra Hull, Clay Hess, Chubby Wise, Allen Shadd, and Chief Jim Billie, and the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra (yes, with a banjo!) Scott has been featured in Banjo Newsletter, and writes for the magazine as well, including articles and interviews with Tony Trischka, Bill Evans, Barry Abernathy, Greg Cahill, Scott Vestal, Cory Walker and Béla Fleck. Scott is also a teaching mainstay at the Suwannee Banjo Camp every spring.
Amanda Anderson started singing before she was two years old, and now her crystalline voice is often compared to that of Alison Krauss. She made her recorded debut singing and playing fiddle on her critically-acclaimed debut project with her dad Scott, “Another Day”, in 2009. Her vocals were also featured very prominently on Scott’s “Tales from the Swamp,” where she shined in the studio among bluegrass legends such as Sam Bush, Jim Hurst, Stuart Duncan, and Barry Bales. She did all of this before graduating high school, where she also excelled as a National Merit Scholar. She has also performed with The Bluegrass Parlor Band and the Walker Brothers Cory, Jarrod, and Tyler. While attending the University of Florida, where she worked to found Orange and Bluegrass, a student organization which cultivates and nourishes the bluegrass sound on the UF campus. Amanda served two terms as President of Orange and Bluegrass before graduating from UF in December of 2014. Amanda is currently a student at University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Dentistry.
Native Californian Christian Ward is recognized as one of the best young fiddle players in the country. Since his professional debut at the early age of twelve, Christian has performed all over the world with his family band including brother Austin and dad Eric Uglam, Brothers Barton & Overdrive, and Chris Stuart & Backcountry. He spent three years playing fiddle and touring nationally and internationally with Sierra Hull and Highway 111. He has also shared the stage with some legendary musicians including Ricky Skaggs, Earl Scruggs, and Bela Fleck. In 2012, Christian was honored with the “Momentum Award” by the International Bluegrass Music Association, which recognizes key up and coming contributors to the music industry. In 2013 he was named the winner of the Florida State Fiddle Contest. He currently tours regionally and nationally with The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band, Rebecca Frazier and Hit & Run, and occasionally other bands. See more about Christian and contact him for fiddle lessons here at http://scottandersonmusic.com/christian-ward.
Lamont Goff grew up in a musical family, playing banjo, mandolin, and guitar from an early age. Eventually his interests settled mainly on mandolin and guitar. Lamont has played in Florida bluegrass bands including US1, Florida Bluegrass Express, Lis and Lon Williamson, and the Florida State Bluegrass Band. He also played an eclectic mix of Irish, Bluegrass, and Americana as part of the trio Under The Radar. In addition to all of that, Lamont plays wonderful traditional Irish style guitar and banjo with several local Irish bands and stays busy with recording and engineering in his studio. He joined The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band in 2012 on mandolin and recorded with them on the Gamble Rogers tribute "Oklawaha County Jamboree.".
Darren Wainright, an outstanding multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, plays guitar and sings lead and baritone vocals. Darren started playing banjo and guitar at age 13 and in only 2 years was playing banjo for Hubert Cox and the Southern Grass. He later spent 3 years with the Army before returning home to Jacksonville to earn a degree in political science from the University of North Florida. He has performed with several well-known bands in North Florida including National Flatpicking Champion Allen Shadd, Chubby Wise, Endless Highway, Gentle River, String Fever, and Oak Grove Bluegrass in addition to periodic gigs at Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando. He has written some great bluegrass and gospel songs, including “Surrounded by the Blues” which he sang on Shadd's solo recording and "Satilla, So Deep" which he sang on Scott Anderson's "Rivers". He joined The Scott Anderson Band in 2002 and has played both bass and guitar in The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band.
Danny Smith, a multi-instrumentalist and music producer from Southeast Georgia, plays bass with The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band. He is an Army combat veteran, serving as an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division during the Gulf War. His musical career has included playing mandolin, acoustic guitar, cajon and bass in a variety of bluegrass and new acoustic groups including performances with legendary banjoists Alan Munde and Mark Johnson. Danny has also played lead guitar and bass in variety of rock, country, Southern gospel and contemporary Christian bands and for several years was the house bassist at the Holland Music Place in Southeast Georgia. Danny joined The Scott Anderson Band in 2008, plays mandolin with Gentle River, and is the lead guitarist with the First Assembly of God praise band in Baxley, Georgia. In 2011, Danny released his acoustic debut CD, Crosspicking, to critical acclaim and landed several songs from that CD into regular rotation on Christian radio. In 2011 and 2012, Danny competed in several guitar contests across the Southeast including winning the Florida state guitar contest in 2012. In 2014, Danny made his debut as a music producer with the release of a contemporary Christian CD with the First Assembly of God Praise Band on which he played guitar and bass in addition to recording, mixing, and mastering the project. More information about Danny, including samples of his music is available at http://www.crosspickingmusic.com/.
The Amanda and Scott Anderson Band played their first Merlefest in 2014 among many other shows, and produced two live music videos at Medusa Studios in between shows.