Andrew Burnett Creeggan (born July 4, 1971) is a Canadian musician, known for being a former member of the

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 (BNL) is a Canadian Rock music, rock band which was formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming th ...

. 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 the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

having released three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Career

Barenaked Ladies

Creeggan was born in the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

suburb of

Scarborough, Ontario Scarborough (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Census 629,941) is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated in the eastern part of the City of Toronto. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue (Toronto), Steele ...

. 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, 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 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 music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Tyler Stewart Tyler Joseph Stewart (born September 21, 1967) is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies. Early life Stewart was born in Toronto, but was raised in Newmarket, Ontario. He is the son of Sandra Stewart and stepson of Robert Stew ...

, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. The duo have been on hiatus since 2003.

''Andiwork''

Creeggan's four solo works—''Andiwork'' (1997), ''Andiwork II'' (2004), ''Andiwork III'' (2011), and ''Andiwork IV'' (2021) are more contemporary classical, with touches of jazz and rock. The albums are largely instrumental pieces.

References

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