Michael Cameron Anderson (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Anderson East, is an American musician from Athens, Alabama, who currently is based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. East's sound is notable for combining R&B,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

. His song "Satisfy Me" was released in March 2015 and received consistent radio airplay. His major-label record debut, '' Delilah,'' was released on the Low Country Sound, an imprint of the Elektra label, in July 2015.

Early life

East went to Athens High School in Athens, Alabama. East wrote his first song, called "Brains", which he played at his 7th grade talent show. Inspired by the musician Ben Folds, East taught himself piano and started writing music in high school. His grandfather was a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher, his father sang in the church choir, and his mother played the piano in church when he was young. East attended college in

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

, at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

, studying to become a

music engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

. After completing his studies, he later moved to Nashville.

Career

In the beginning stage of his career, East opened for Holly Williams and ended up playing guitar and singing harmonies with her. At the same time, he worked as a session musician as well as a recording engineer to provide a way to make ends meet. East began his musical career in 2009, self-releasing an album titled ''Closing Credits for a Fire'' under the name Mike Anderson. He then began recording under the name Anderson East with the release of an EP titled ''Fire Demos''. East's self-released debut album, ''Flowers of the Broken Hearted'' in 2012, was made up of two records: one record which he recorded in Los Angeles with producer Chris Seefried and session players Charlie Gillingham, Don Heffington and

Rob Wasserman Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di ...

, and a second recorded in Nashville with Tim Brennan and Daniel Scobey. The record is 15 songs long, and is made up of two CDs each with their own music genre: The White disc is made up of a

progressive soul Progressive soul (often shortened to prog-soul; also called black prog, black rock, and progressive R&B) is a type of African-American music that uses a progressive music, progressive approach, particularly in the context of the soul music, soul ...

and Americana vibe, while the Red disc is darker and has more of a rock sound. He funded the record as a PledgeMusic project, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Water Aid, a nonprofit organization that brings water to communities that do not have clean drinking water. East's major label debut album, '' Delilah,'' was released by Low Country Sound, an imprint of Elektra in July 2015. It was produced by

Dave Cobb Dave Cobb (born July 9, 1974) is an American record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, best known for producing the work of Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Highwomen, Take That, Rival ...

(

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell ( ; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. One of the most celebrated contemporary songwriters in his genre, his lyrics are defined by their raw emotional honesty. Isbell began his career as a me ...

, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton) and features a song by George Jackson recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

. In 2017, East appeared on the ''Fifty Shades Darker'' soundtrack album, performing the track "What Would It Take" which he co-wrote with Aaron Raitere. The soundtrack debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200. East also covered

Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Her music spans different genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. Throughout her career, she has received eleven Gramm ...

's song "Josephine" to be included for her charity album '' Cover Stories''. On August 15, 2017, East released the first single from his upcoming album ''Encore'', "All On My Mind", which he subsequently performed on October 13, 2017 in an appearance on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

''.

Personal life

East lives in

. On December 28, 2015, ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is an American weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, which sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to Ameri ...

'' and ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' confirmed that East was dating country singer

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

. He co-wrote two songs ("Getaway Driver" and "Well-Rested") with Lambert for her 2016 album, '' The Weight of These Wings'', and he provides background vocals on another song of hers called ("Pushin' Time"). They have since broken up.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

* 2010: ''Fire Demos'' * 2011: ''Transitive Property'' * 2015: ''The Muscle Shoals Sessions: Live From FAME''https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/30789-anderson-east-the-muscle-shoals-sessions-live-from-fame.php

Singles

Other charted songs

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:East, Anderson 1988 births American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Living people People from Athens, Alabama Elektra Records artists 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Alabama