Anderson East at the Bowery Ballroom

Michael Anderson, now known professionally as Anderson East, grew up in Athens, Alabama, where as a boy he sang in church and had his first solo when he was about seven years old. His father gave him a guitar when the younger Anderson was 11 years old. In the seventh grade, he wrote his first song, called "Brains," and performed it at his school talent show. As a youth, he also taught himself piano. He began experimenting with the recording process when he got a four-track recorder, and later, during his college years in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he went further and studied music engineering. Two years later, he moved to nearby Nashville and released two indie albums, the first in 2009 as Mike Anderson and the second in 2012 as Anderson East. He broke into the Nashville music scene by writing songs for others and working as both a session musician and a recording engineer. As he collaborated with other artists, his music and concerts reached a wider audience. East's fourth album, Encore, will be released tomorrow, January 12, 2018.

Launching a five-month national tour at the Bowery Ballroom tonight, several of Anderson East's verses may have hinted at a sliver of country twang, but despite its Nashville origins, overall his music was not country music by any means. While strains of Americana were embedded in his music, East was a gritty gospel-like rhythm and blues crooner and his band rocked, tempered on a few songs by a string quartet that East introduced midway through the set. Saying he was especially proud of his new album, East performed 10 of its 11 songs, with only five songs in the set from his earlier works. The songs rode pop melodies, but the arrangements were big and full, with 12 musicians booming with power and energy. East's rich, soulful and mercurial vocals whispered and roared, at all times capturing a fervent honesty that presented him as a regular blue-collar guy with a rustic musical style. This was earthy and spirit-filled heartland music that defied the conventions of Nashville's music machine.

Visit Anderson East at www.andersoneast.com.

Setlist:

1. Sorry You're Sick (Ted Hawkins cover)
2. Girlfriend
3. Surrender
4. If You Keep Leaving Me
5. Somebody Pick Up My Pieces (Willie Nelson cover)
6. Devil in Me
7. Learning
8. Quit You
9. King for a Day
10. Without You
11. Satisfy Me
12. All on My Mind
13. This Too Shall Last

Encore:

1. Find 'Em, Fool 'Em and Forget 'Em (George Jackson cover)
2. House Is a Building