It was in the early 1970s that a friend told me that there was this new singer/songwriter on the scene who had a rough voice, kind of like Dylan’s, and was performing at the Cellar Door in Washington, DC. His name was John Prine, and I decided to go have a listen. One of the songs John performed that night was called “Far From Me.” I still recall when he sang the lyric, “Well, I leaned on my left leg in the parking lot dirt,” and I
thought, “I could write something like that.”

That was when the songwriting bug bit me and the next few years found me up at all hours, jotting down lyrics and humming tunes into my micro tape recorder. In those years, I went to auditions at local clubs and met a marvelous guitarist name Jonas Taub. We liked each other’s music a great deal, and in the following years, Jonas became a fast friend. You’ll find him playing lead guitar on many of these recordings.

As my music circle widened, I encountered another songwriter, Kaid Benfield, and it was Kaid who told me of the Singer’s Studio in D.C. and their annual songwriter’s contest, which attracted songwriters from throughout the greater Washington area. Even though the odds of winning such a contest seemed like a long shot, I entered it in 1980, backed by Jonas on lead guitar and his friend Randy on keyboards. Much to my surprise, for the first time in the history of the contest, I won both second and first prize. You can hear both of the contest winners, “The Album” and “Old Movies” on this website.

Spurred on by my success at the songwriter’s contest, my musical friends joined me for several sessions at the Wally Cleaver Studios in Fredericksburg, Virginia to record a demo, which I intended to take with me to Nashville. In Nashville I was well received by Music Row, eventually being invited to come to the city and partner with other writers. However, as the owner of a very busy graphics design studio and the co-parent of three children, Nashville faded in importance.

Thus, having put my songwriter’s pen down—with a few exceptions over the years—we now come to this website, on which I have decided to share with you the songs of AnderSongs* which are still dear to me after all these years. Many are from my Nashville demo, while others are simple basement recordings. To listen to any or all of the recordings, simply click here on the song of your choice. I hope you enjoy listening to them.

Take care,
Dick Anderson
[email protected]

*Please note that all songs are copyrighted and registered with the United States Copyright Office and are presented
here only for your listening pleasure. These songs may not be downloaded. No further use may be made of these songs without the express written permission of Dick Anderson.