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To download a track from each of Osenga's LP's and the full length "Letters to the Editor: Vol. 1" go to www.AndyOsenga.com/free/

"I mean, have you ever heard someone say, 'Does this folk? No. But you HAVE someone say, 'Does this rock?'" Though Andrew Osenga's first solo album, a gem called Photographs, fell squarely into the genre of singer-songwriter folk, his most recent LP The Morning fulfills the promise he once gave, saying "much rock will be had." Osenga, a 29 year-old 10 year veteran of the music industry, shines brightly in the sometimes obscure landscape of independent music.

Once the lead for critically acclaimed yet commercially scorned The Normals, Osenga is now a member of critically acclaimed and commercially successful band Caedmon's Call. Yet it is his solo work that truly stands out. Photographs was largely written while still with The Normals and captures the passion of a man grappling with the themes that are life; love, failure, transition. Recorded on a shoestring budget (you can hear pots and pans in the background of the autobiographical "We Were So Sure We Would Change the World") the songwriting of the record shows both literary influences such as Hemingway and the musical influence of Springsteen. The title aptly reflects the snapshot that each song's provides into life, from the haunting honesty of a song like "Too Far to Walk" or third person story of "High School Band." Yet after this brilliant record, Osenga woke up to "the rock" that was The Morning.

"We decided to make a record that sounds as good, if not better, than a major label record." Emerging from this motivation was a record that screamed "dream big" from the first wailing guitars of "After the Garden," the first full length track. While largely recorded in Osenga's home studio, the album is best played on a sound system that can pick up the texture, the complexity of layers of music that effortlessly blend to draw the listener into a new independent experience. It is rare to see an independent release showcase such a luscious soundscape, from the rocker "Santa Monica" to the intimate "Early in the Morning." The title suggests a new beginning and the track "New Beginning" puts that idea in concrete, saying goodbye to the past and "reaching for the promise that we will not stay the same."

The past year for Osenga included a fan-collaboration EP called Letters to the Editor: Vol.1 and he has started up work on a second. His debut of a new website, work as producer, songwriter, or guitarist on other independent artists records, and continuing work as a member of Caedmon's Call have kept him busy in recent months. Though there is no telling when a new LP will be released, Volume Two of Letters to the Editor is likely to be out by the end of the year (purely speculation based on the fact that Vol. 1 took shape in a little over a month).

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