"My father, Bill McAndrew, played clarinet with Stan Kenton," McAndrew recalled. "I grew up listening to everything from Cole Porter to Duke Ellington to Dave Brubeck and the Beatles. Even today, nothing moves me like the Hank Williams songs I heard when I was a kid. Music's in my soul, so I suppose it's only natural that that's how I learned to express myself. That's more true today than ever before."

Based in Minnetonka , Minn. , McAndrew and his music are no strangers to listeners in the Shoals. The performer's 1997 album, "I'll Play All Night Long," was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield . McAndrew co-arranged and co-produced the expressive self-defining collection with veteran Muscle Shoals producer and musician Roger Hawkins, best known as the drummer for the world-famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.

"I wanted to make a simple, honest record where you could here the lyrics without a lot of clutter and distractions," McAndrew said. Roger has been in the business so long and he really knows how to make records. He's a legendary drummer, or course, but he also has a genuine love of songs and a tremendous ear for music and lyrics. He cares so deeply about what he does, and I know he likes my singing. So I think it was a good partnership."

Working in Muscle Shoals also enabled McAndrew to enlist a stellar lineup of studio personal, from master engineers Alan Schulman, Johnny Sandlin, Jay Wilson, Steve Melton and Kent Bruce to seasoned musicians Hawkins, Clayton Ivey, David Hood, Bob Wray, Will McFarlane and Joel Holder.

"I learned a great deal from all of them," McAndrew confessed. We worked long and hard, but the late nights were a lot of fun. I'd say it paid off, because the album seems to be knocking people out. Thematically, there's a definite thread running through that album. We worked very carefully on choosing and sequencing those songs."

McAndrew premiered much of his soulful, heartfelt original material, from the tender love songs "You Are My Light" and "You Opened the Gate" to the socially conscious plea "Give Me New Eyes" and the post Vietnam anthem "After All These Years", during a March appearance at the Muscle Shoals Songwriters Showcase.

"I love the reaction of audiences," McAndrew said. "I love to hear that affection come across. Whether it's through a recording or performing live, that's what I try to do, connect with people. I want to get them involved and interested, and through this music I want to give them something to feel and something to think about.

There's no greater joy as a musician than knowing that you get something across."

In addition to reaching new listeners, McAndrew has used "I'll Play All Night Long" as his musical "calling card" to major record companies. Ron Geslin, vice president of promotions for EMI Records, calls McAndrew "a talent about to happen" and one of those rare performers whose musical approach "rattles you and won't let go."

His musical style, a blend of country, folk, pop and Soul, inspires comparisons with Elton John, Paul Simon, Ray Charles and Billy Joel.

"John McAndrew has that God-given talent," Geslin insists. "His voice cuts through thousands of aspiring artists and compels you to listen John's writing skills are approaching craftsman quality, and his vocal finesse is major-league."

In recent months, McAndrew has been courting producers and record companies in Los Angeles , California, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

He recently worked with Grammy-winning producer Morgan Ames on several new recordings including the haunting "Down on Birmingham ." The song was written on Oct. 28, 1997 , just after McAndrew's fateful visit to Birmingham 's Civil Rights Institute and the nearby 16th Avenue Baptist Church, where four young black girls were killed in a racially motivated bombing in 1963.

"I walked through the park there around the church and the Civil Rights Institute," McAndrew recalled. "Those images lingered in my mind and those feelings were in my heart that very day, 6he song formed in my head. The song tells the story of a white man expressing 6hose feelings. It's a song that really moves people when they hear it."

McAndrew believes all of his songs "come from pretty deep down," conveying a refreshing blend of personal candor and emotional resonance.

"Many people have commented that there's a clarity and honesty to the music that I write," McAndrew said. "I believe one of the reasons for that may be that I haven't been hardened by the pressures of New York and Los Angeles . I enjoy writing from that spot where people are really moved. Music is a good way to do that."

These days McAndrew is busy preparing material for his upcoming album. The singer-songwriter is par6cularly proud of his new recording of "Down on Birmingham ." He even hopes to return to the Shoals in August to perform the song at the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival.

"Doors are starting to open," McAndrew noted. "This latest album speaks for who I am, and I think it's pretty representative of me as a songwriter and musician. After you're there for a while and you work for a while, things start to get a little clearer. You realize after a certain amount of time that things will just happen as they're supposed to happen. I guess I have confidence that I'll get where I'm supposed to be."

In the meantime, McAndrew intends to focus on introducing his music to as many people in as many places as possible. In recent years he's shared the concert stage with Exile, Reba McEntire, Acoustic Alchemy, Little Feat, Nancy Griffith and Maynard Ferguson.

"I play all the time, anywhere and everywhere, and I write constantly," he concluded. "It's like the ideas are just sitting there, waiting to be written. And singing is a healing thing for me. It does something to your chemistry. This is a great job to have, and I'm just grateful to be able to do something that I love to do. Music does it for me."