Christoffer "Kid" Andersen (born 15 January 1980) is a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

from Herre, Norway. By age 11, Andersen had gained the attention of Norwegian blues guitar teacher, Morten Omlid, who steered him towards traditional blues music. In 2001, at age 21, Andersen moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, joined blues frontman Terry Hanck's band, and quickly became a figure on the

West Coast blues West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also ...

scene. Andersen later played in

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

's band and got a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

(formerly W.C. Handy Award) for best contemporary blues album for

's ''

Delta Hardware ''Delta Hardware'' is the twenty fourth studio album by blues harp player and vocalist Charlie Musselwhite. The album was released in 2006, on Real World Records. It is Musselwhite's second release on Real World Records, his first being Sanctuary ...

''. Then, when

Little Charlie Baty Little Charlie & the Nightcats was an American electric blues and swing revival combo, active from 1976-2008. Several members reformed as Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Biography Charles Baty (1953–2020) was studying mathematics at Uni ...

retired from touring, Andersen took his place as guitarist in the Nightcats, and the new name of

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats Rick Estrin & the Nightcats are an American electric blues band formed in 2008. The group was established by ex-members of Little Charlie & the Nightcats. Members include Rick Estrin on vocals and harmonica, guitarist Kid Andersen, bassist Lor ...

was formed. Andersen has also done extensive touring with

Elvin Bishop Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. An original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a membe ...

on the Red Dog Speaks Tour. He is married to

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

contestant

Lisa Leuschner Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

. They currently reside in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

where Andersen is CEO of Greaseland Studios. In 2013, Andersen was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Gibson Guitar' category. In 2014, 2015, and 2016 he was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Best Instrumentalist – Guitar' category. In recent years, Andersen has gained a reputation of record producer using his own recording facility "Greaseland". He produced the last two albums of

: ''One Wrong Turn'' (2012) and ''Groovin' in Greaseland'' (2017). In 2017, he also produced several albums including ''Stompin' Ground'' from

Tommy Castro Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955, San Jose, California, United States) is an American blues, R&B, and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and internation ...

. In 2019, he co-produced Junior Watson's, album, ''Nothin' to it But to Do It'' (which featured his wife Lisa Leuschner Andersen on lead vocals).

Discography

* ''Rock Awhile'' (2003) * ''Guitarmageddon'' (2004) * ''Greaseland'' (2006) * The Dreamer (2007)

References

External Links

Content Magazine: Greaseland Studios: Kid Andersen
1980 births Living people Norwegian blues guitarists People from Telemark 21st-century Norwegian guitarists {{norway-musician-stub