Andy Thompson, Guest Songwriter

Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, producer and engineer Andy Thompson will be artist in-residence at the 2011 Songwriters Institute where he will work in small-group sessions with songwriters on their lyrics and leading pre-production meetings prior to groups making their demo recordings.

After studying composition, percussion and jazz at the University of Michigan School of Music, Andy moved to Minneapolis and began regularly gigging on guitar, keyboards and drums. He has performed with Dan Wilson, Semisonic, Mike Doughty, Robert Skoro, Jeremy Messersmith, Heiruspecs, Atmosphere, Chris Beaty, Daniel Johnston, Sean and Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Steve Rush, Clearly and The Mainstream, blues guitarist Laith Al-Saadi, and jazz saxophonist Dave Luther.

As a composer, Andy has received commissions from GTCYS and the FAIR School, and has recently been a composer-in-residence at Sorin Sirkus in Tampere, Finland. He is also an active composer for TV and advertising, having worked on shows for The Cartoon Network, Disney, and NBC, as well as writing music for Target, Best Buy and Garmin's AICP-nominated 2008 Super Bowl spot. As a songwriter, he has co- written with Dan Wilson, Andy Sturmer (Jellyfish), and Willie Wisely, and has also amassed a large personal catalog of songs, selections from which he is currently recording for his first release.