Andrew Burnett Creeggan (born July 4, 1971) is a former member of the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold i ...

. He was also a member of the trio The Brothers Creeggan, and a solo

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

having released three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Career

Barenaked Ladies

Creeggan was born in Scarborough, Ontario. Along with his brother Jim, he was invited by Ed Robertson and Steven Page (then performing as Barenaked Ladies as a duo) to play a Christmastime club show with them in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, with Andy playing conga drums. The two were then invited to join the band. Only six months later, at the beginning of the summer of 1990, he joined the

Canada World Youth Canada World Youth (CWY, in French: ''Jeunesse Canada Monde, JCM'') was an international non-profit organization dedicated to providing youth with a voluntary opportunity to learn about other communities, cultures and people while developing leaders ...

exchange program for a trip to South America. While he was gone, the band met

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

Tyler Stewart, and invited him to join the band. Creeggan returned at the beginning of 1991 to find Tyler having taken his percussion role. He switched over to keyboards (still playing congas on a few songs) and a few other occasional percussion and musical instruments. He played on two of the band's early demo tapes, '' Barenaked Lunch'' (before he left for South America), and '' The Yellow Tape'' (after he returned). He also played on the band's first two official releases, '' Gordon'' and '' Maybe You Should Drive''. Creeggan was never completely comfortable being in the band, and wanted to continue his education in other musical areas. He recounts, "I wanted space for my music, my personality. I was always very interested in instrumental music and I wanted to take advantage of having been accepted at the Faculty of Music at McGill University in Montreal and really pursue theory and composition." According to Steven Page, "Andy had considered leaving the band as early as the rehearsals for the latter album, but was convinced to stay for the recording and tour." Creeggan departed at the conclusion of the tour. They recorded their third album, '' Born on a Pirate Ship'' as a quartet and asked Kevin Hearn to join the band for the subsequent tour in 1996.

The Brothers Creeggan

The two Creeggan brothers also had their own writing interests (Barenaked Ladies music mostly coming from Page and Robertson) and in 1994 released an album titled '' The Brothers Creeggan''. They have since released three more albums—''The Brothers Creeggan II'' (1997), ''Trunks'' (2000) and ''Sleepyhead'' (2002)—and toured in support of them. Their music consists mostly of songs fusing rock and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. The duo have been on hiatus since 2003.

''Andiwork''

Creeggan's three solo works—''Andiwork'' (1997), ''Andiwork II'' (2004), and ''Andiwork III'' (2011), are more contemporary classical, with touches of jazz and rock. The albums are largely instrumental pieces.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creeggan, Andy 1971 births Living people People from Scarborough, Toronto Canadian rock keyboardists Musicians from Toronto Barenaked Ladies members 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists