Local musician aims for national stardom

By Kendra Simpson

A local country artist is following his music dreams and working to become the next big thing.

Andrew Larison, otherwise known as Andy J, is making waves across country music platforms. Through heartbreak and endless effort, he has found that sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.

About 15 years ago, while growing up in Savannah, Missouri, Larison’s passion for music began through experimenting with numerous instruments like the drums and guitar. Eventually, he discovered his talent lies in singing and started recording music in his friend’s basement recording studio.

“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Larison said. “We just picked up a guitar and played drums and we did rap for a little bit.”

Larison began posting all kinds of music online and gained over a million followers.

But no success is without its difficulties. After delving into various different music genres and building an online fan base, Larison’s profiles under the stage name “Derived” were lost.

But much like his popular song, “Goodbye and Good Riddance,” Larison found happiness after heartbreak in country music.

Because he had “nothing to lose,” Larison decided to take a shot at Rolling Stone’s national competition, “America’s Next Top HitMaker.” To his surprise, he climbed to the top five of his music category group. Because of this, he had a chance to win $10,000 and the opportunity to perform at Rolling Stone’s “Future of Music” showcase in Austin, Texas. Larison had also made it through the first two rounds of auditions for “America’s Got Talent.” His next stop is the in-person auditions in Pasadena, California.

On top of all the excitement, Larison was recently accepted into the celebrity Cameo app.

“Being added to the Cameo app to me means that I’m finally seeing progress and seeing that I’m growing as a public figure,” Larison said. “Not everyone gets accepted and it gives me an opportunity to show positivity to people who support me. It really feels awesome to be accepted into such a great community. Now I can continue to show my gratitude through Cameo videos for people who support me.”

The artist claims his recent success in music is due to his past heartbreaks.

“I really wanted to inspire people to not sit in the present right now and think about everything in the past,” Larison said. “When you have all this stuff in front of you and there’s always more out there … (My music) kind of came from that inspiration of like, ‘Man, I can’t just sit here and wait around. I’ve got to do something.’”

Regardless of the audition or competition results, Larison will continue to follow his passion.

One thing’s for sure for Larison: He will continue to follow his passions, even if the audition and competition don’t go the way he hopes.

“Regardless, if I don’t make money and millions of dollars, I’m still going to do it,” he said.

To vote for Larison in “America’s Next Top Hitmaker,” visit the competition’s website at https://tophitmaker.org/2024/andy-j. To request a Cameo interaction from Larison, visit cameo.com/andyjthesinger.