Your music discovery of 2020?  Andrew Hagar, who’s shown up with a voice that saws logs, a guitar he plays the hell out of and hardcore lived experience to share. You might assume that his dad, Sammy, was his role model and musical mentor, but the apple fell a long way from the tree. His mom, Betsy Bell Berardi (who co wrote a few hits with Sammy), was equally influential, instilling a love of classic roots and cowboy music that helped shape his musical vision. Which is why Andrew’s not a rocker – he’s a singer-songwriter who veers away from the standard singer-songwriter lane.
 
His scabrous roots/Americana has threads of Delta blues, psychedelia and outlaw country running through it. And he shares a humanist message about conflict, the way people mistreat each other and why anxiety is a normal response. His first single, Judgement Day, comes with his life story burned in: “Say your gates are open, your blood is wine/ Don't need your four walls to find peace of mind…”
 
They all coalesce around Hagar’s predominant themes: social injustice, society’s response to it and “this crazy renegade culture we have in America, where people feel justified to bust into places and start shooting.” But there’s also a left-field streak, inspired by weird vintage sci-fi books and movies, that sometimes pops up in songs: “I have a serious fascination with how basic human concepts like love are influenced by Quantum Mechanics.”
 
Check him out yourself on April 24th, when Judgement Day (mixed by super-producer Machine) is released. In the meantime, with the world in lockdown, he’s making the most of things. “While self-isolating,” he laughs, “I’ve taken it upon myself to become an absolutely savage harmonica player.” Don’t bet against him doing it, either.

- Caroline Sullivan, The Guardian