Episode 543 – The Journey From Classical Viola to Pedal Steel Virtuoso | Andrea Whitt

In this week’s episode, I sit down with the amazing Andrea Whitt, a pedal steel, fiddle, and viola player.

Andrea has toured with Shania Twain, recorded on Grammy award winning albums, and performed and recorded with dozens of other musicians including Journey, Deep Purple, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Halsey, and Phil Lesh.

An accomplished visual artist, Andrea is regularly commissioned for paintings in her signature ink, watercolor, and oil styles, and her work can be found on her Boho Bunnie site.

Andrea is also an exceptionally versatile arranger and composer, and was commissioned to write two pieces for the International Viola Congress. 

As a guest clinician for schools and music conferences, she instructs young string players in improvisation and multi-genre performances.

In this episode, Andrea and I talked about how she became a pedal steel player, how fiddle and pedal steel play a similar role in a band, her unique painting style, keeping her art life and music life separate, going from Brazilian jazz to EDM to country music, and so much more.

Ready to meet this multi-talented artist? 

Then tune in now!

Key Takeaways:

Introduction (00:00)

From classical viola to pedal steel (01:35)

Making the jump into improvisation (07:44)

Andrea’s artwork (12:28)

Touring with Shania Twain (16:15)

Andrea’s favorite music genre (27:10)

One last question (31:29)

Additional Resources:

Learn more about Andrea’s work: https://www.andreawhitt.com/home

Check out Andrea’s art: https://bohobunnie.com/ 

Follow Andrea on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bohobunnie 

Follow Andrea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bohobunnie/ 

Follow Andrea on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/andreawhitt 

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