Coffey Anderson

Although generally billed as a country artist, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Coffey Anderson has made his career by offering a diverse mix of country, pop, R&B, hip-hop, and worship music. After gaining national attention in the late-2000s through his YouTube channel and becoming a finalist on NBC’s Nashville Star, Anderson began a successful independent recording career combining his unique country-pop mix with occasional CCM releases, managing a successful crossover attempt and eventually breaking into the mainstream with 2016′s Boots and Jeans, which contained the patriotic hit “Mr. Red, White, and Blue.” A string of subsequent singles led to his 2018 follow-up, Cowboy Style. A native of Bangs, Texas, Anderson was encouraged by a girlfriend’s father to learn guitar while attending the small Baptist liberal arts school Howard Payne University. The budding songwriter soon began attracting attention around campus and, after graduating with a Practical Theology degree, decided to take a leap of faith and try his hand at a music career in Los Angeles. He spent part of the early 2000s writings songs and gigging around town, and even made it through a few early rounds of American Idol’s second season in 2003. An early YouTube devotee, Anderson began building an online audience by posting videos of himself singing pop, country, and praise songs along with some of his own original material. In 2008, he auditioned for NBC’s talent contest, Nashville Star, and became one of the show’s 12 finalists. During one episode, he debuted an original country song called “Southern Man,” which would become the title track of his debut album later that year. Having begun his recording career in earnest, Anderson developed a unique style loosely centered around a country framework, but included pop and R&B elements, rap, and praise music. He independently released faith-based albums like The Inspiration, Vol. 1 and Worship Unplugged, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, alongside secular albums like his eponymous 2010 label debut on Dream Records, managed to find audiences in both realms. As a performer he adapted to playing a wide variety of venues from clubs and festivals to churches and rodeos while working as a commercial actor on the side. More independent releases followed like 2013′s Redemption and 2015′s gospel-oriented God Is Enough, which emphasized his R&B tone. Anderson’s 2016 album, Boots and Jeans, offered a strong example of his distinctive country-pop mish-mash which paired patriotic lyrics and good-time themes with hip-hop beats, electronic elements, and more organic Nashville instrumentation. It proved to be a breakout release, yielding hits like “Mr. Red, White, and Blue” and “Better Today.” Over the next year Anderson continued to defy genres, releasing singles like the hooky country-pop of “Bud Light Blue,” the smooth R&B of “Can I,” and the warm ballad “Stay with Me.” In 2018, he returned with the full-length Cowboy Style, followed by non-album singles like “Broken Halos” and “Heaven.” ~ Timothy Monger