Five Minutes With: Toronto-based Singer-Songwriter Andy Penkow

Andy Penkow is an Australian singer/songwriter, based in Toronto, Canada, known for his smooth, and powerful vocals, and his Country Blues, Alternate and Contemporary style of music. He has released four studio albums to date, with his latest album “Shades On Me” peaking at No.2 on the Australian ARIA Charts (Billboard Charts equivalent), No.1 on the Australian Independent Records Charts, and No.3 on the Australian Apple iTunes Charts.

Andy has had 11 singles reach No.1 across multiple Australian Country Radio Charts and was nominated for a 2023 CMAA Golden Guitar Award (CMA equivalent). He has won 3x People’s Choice Awards (including Best Male Vocals 2024), 4x Independent Country Music Awards (including Most Popular Male Artist 2023), a 2024 TSA Award, and was the winner of the “Australian Busking Championships 2019 – Gundagai”.

Andy was deemed “The Most Successful Australian Male Country Artist” for both 2022 and 2023 by the Australian Radio Top 40 Airplay Charts – determined by calculating the success of total singles over 12 months, across approx. 300 Australian community stations.

Internationally, he has had two songs peak at No.1 on the Nashville Country Independent Radio Charts, his third album peaked at No.1 for three weeks at the Canadian CFUR Radio charts, his song “Ghostly Gums” peaked at No.2 on the UK Country Radio Charts, and “Shades On Me” debuted at No.2 on PlayMPE UK.

Andy Penkow

Name:

Andy Penkow

Genre:

Country & Contemporary

Founded:

Started singing at the age of 11, and first album was released in 2018

# of Albums:

4 Studio Albums to date

Latest Album:

Shades On Me

Latest Single:

Shades On Me (Title Track)

Latest Video:

Favourite musician growing up:

Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20)

Favourite musician now:

Donovan Woods (Canadian Folk)

Guilty pleasure song:

Heart of Gold (Neil Young)

Live show ritual:

A single shot of whiskey on ice

Favourite local musician:

Jessica Sole

EP or LP?

LP

Early bird or night owl?

Night Owl

Road or studio?

Both

Any shows or albums coming up?

My latest album, Shades On Me, just came out on 10 May, so am currently promoting this album heavily, including the Title Track.

For upcoming shows, I will be performing on August 27th at The Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto ON at 3 pm!  I will also be performing at BuskerFest from August 30th to September 2nd, come check it out!

Where can we follow you?

InstagramSpotifyFacebookYouTube

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Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Miss Fu in Chengdu, on Yonge St, Toronto ON – Best dumplings and tofu

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Augusta Ave, Kensington Markets, Toronto ON

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto ON – I used to live on Shaw Street around the corner from the park and it was my go-to place for a walk every afternoon

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Cameron House on Queen Street West, Toronto ON – Really cool vibes and awesome live music

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Steve’s Music Store on Queen Street West, Toronto ON

 

About Emilea Semancik 146 Articles
Emilea Semancik was born in North Vancouver. Emilea has always always wanted to freelance her own pieces and currently writes for the Vancouver Guardian. She is also a recipe author working towards publishing her own series of recipe books. You can find her recipes on Instagram. @ancestral.foods