Greyhound Grad’s Music Surpasses 30 Million Plays on Pandora

By Desiree M. Cooper

Children’s musician Andy Mason (BA 04) recently won two New Mexico Music Awards. His 10 studio albums have sold thousands of copies each and have over 30 million plays on Pandora on more than 60,000 stations. The “Everybody Likes Pizza” singer’s 30 music videos also have over 60,000 combined views on YouTube, and he has more than 10,000 iTunes downloads.

“When someone downloads my music, that is pretty cool,” Andy explained. “I got one in Turkey the other day. They come from all over the world.”

Andy has run Andy Mason Music since May 2007 and he has three children’s books based on his songs. One book and the song associated with it, both titled “Smile,” raised $10,000 for the charity Smile Train, paying for 40 kids to have cleft palette surgery.

He also recently released “Music for People Big and Small,” available at cdbaby.com/cd/andymason24.

Andy giving high-fives to fans after his kick-off performance for the Summer Reading Program at the Roswell Public Library.

Photo by Claire Gutierrez

Andy’s favorite part of working in the music industry is traveling to perform 100 to 200 concerts per year. He has played in Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, England, Iceland, Canada, Mexico and all over the United States. This summer Andy has been touring in New Mexico and Texas, performing for families and kids. Tour dates are available on his website, andymasonmusic.org.

“Going self-employed was the best thing I ever did. I work hard, but I work when I want and how I want.”

Andy’s job duties include writing, recording, performing, promotion, driving, being an organizer, handling logistics and running his website. The most challenging part of his position is booking.

“I’d love to have an agent book for me and take a percentage of the booking fee... anybody?”

The performer, who grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and London, England said the choice to attend Eastern was a “no brainer” because he lived in Portales at the time.

“While teaching ESL in Peru the students had questions that I couldn’t answer, so I thought I’d better get a degree.”

Andy won the equivalent of Eastern’s Got Talent in 2005, while working on his master’s degree. His other extracurricular activities during college included Relay for Life, intramural sports, swimming, volunteering and playing music.

“I loved my time at ENMU,” said Andy. “While I was focusing on getting my degree in English I took a bunch of music and choir classes. It really allowed my love for music to grow.”

Andy currently lives in Santa Fe, NM with his wife, Anne, and his three children: Kew, 24, Juniper three-anda-half months, and a boy, Lennon, who is almost two years old. The musician’s career goals are to win a Grammy, get interviewed on a late night talk show and perform the Super Bowl half-time concert.