Neil Andersson

Guitarist Neil Andersson's first instrument was violin, but he became enamored with guitar in high school and formed several dance bands. In 1964 he joined the well-known Northwest group, the Fabulous Wailers. On his journey toward being a jazz guitarist, he continued doing session work and playing in rock groups, recording for United Artists, Janus Records, Etiquette Records, and Riverton Records. In 1986 he was inducted into the Northwest Music Awards ‘Hall of Fame.’

Paralleling his music career is his career as a visual artist. He received his Master of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound. He has been featured in exhibitions in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Indiana, and Illinois. His paintings and drawings can be seen on his web site, NeilAndersson.com.

In addition to his activities as a producing visual and recording artist he has been an educator, teaching visual art part-time at Pierce College, The University of Puget Sound, Tacoma Community College and Highline Community College. He taught full-time for seven years in both visual and performing arts at the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ Chief Leschi School.

In 1993 he began a collaboration with Dudley Hill that led to the formation of Pearl Django. In 2003 Neil released his first solo CD, C’est si bon, on Modern Hot Records. He continues his interest in painting, studying the music of Django Reinhardt and recording and performing with Pearl Django. Neil plays guitars by Shelley D. Park, Selmer (1946, #596) and Busato (1940s). He uses Savarez Argentine and Dell’ Arte strings, and picks by Michel Wegen. Photo by Jim Mercure.