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Andrew Thoreen Thrives within His Restraints on ‘Songs of Invitation for Guitar Duet’ [Album Premiere]

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Clever, innovative, and inventive to a fault, Andrew Thoreen would like to welcome you to his musical evolution. The singer-songwriter is ready to release his brand new collection of songs, entitled Songs of Invitation For Guitar Duet, five new tracks to which Thoreen has given his heart and soul for the better part of the last year. The video was done by Julie Thoreen.

This is the second in his Songs Of series, a string of new releases in which he restricts himself to the use of a certain musical instrument, with (as the title suggests) guitar serving as the backbone of this EP. By offering himself a restriction and a starting point, Thoreen has dug deep to conjure up one of his most interesting releases, five songs that illustrate his love of pop and acoustic music, as well as his admiration for jazz and classical. His overall goal for Songs of Invitation For Guitar Duet is to combine ideas of personal contemplation, encouragement, and wisdom that he can pass on, not only to the students he teaches guitar to, but also more broadly to others in his life, and his general audience of listeners.

In explaining the themes of the EP, Thoreen remarked, “Recorded and self-produced in my home studio over the winter and spring of 2020, I realized that these songs were all invitations, and perhaps reminders, to something deeply meaningful outside of our noisy world. The EP follows the story of despair, realization, self-reflection, and faith that I encountered in the process of writing it. I believe we are all being invited to this meaningful place outside of our striving, outside of our own desires, and outside of our despair.”

Currently based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Thoreen is a musician’s musician. A producer, arranger, session musician, and improviser, he is an avant-garde pop traditionalist who walks many musical lines. Whether it’s between experimental and pop, jazz and classical, or composed and improvised, he shows great versatility in his songwriting, both as a solo artist and as part of the art-pop project Har-di-Har which he is one-half of along with his wife Julie Thoreen. A musician who loves to keep busy, Thoreen also has a chamber pop project called andandending, and has collaborated extensively with musician J.E. Sunde, who just released his latest album, 9 Songs About Love, on November 20th.

Whether it’s writing, recording, doing session work, producing, arranging, or playing live, it’s all pretty much the same to Andrew Thoreen. As long as he has a musical outlet, you can be certain he’ll give his very best to it, thriving in a space in which he is most comfortable.

Artwork for ‘Songs of Invitation for Guitar Duet’ by Andrew Thoreen

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