And the Hi everyone Simon and Brian here. Welcome to Sota Jaker on songwriting episode 132.

Joining us today is an Irish Ivanovello winning singer and songwriter who

enjoyed an astronomical rise back in 2014 with the release of his self-titled debut album

and the staggering success of his breakthrough hit the anthemic Take Me to Church.

He's just released his eagerly awaited second album, Wasteland Baby, a fine, passionate piece of work which

should cement his status as one of the most powerfully distinctive vocalists and

intelligent, insightful young songwriters around today.

We're delighted to welcome the excellent Hosey to the show.

We met with Hosey at Wise Brother Studios in Central London just a couple of weeks ago.

I found him to be a very affable and down-to-earth chap who speaks very articulately about his his craft as you'll hear in just a few minutes.

Andrew Hosey Abern was born in 1990 on St. Patrick's Day no less in County Wicklow Island just outside Dublin.

He grew up in a musical and artistic household.

His dad was a local blues musician and his mom a painter. She would later paint the

artwork for his son's first album in fact. The young Andrew developed a

particular affinity for his dad's blues albums and was also influenced by R&B, soul, jazz and gospel music.

He sang in his school choir and began to teach himself the guitar and write songs around the age of 15, which was when he also joined his first band.

Age 16, he joined the Irish choral group Anuna, with which he toured internationally and featured as a soloist.

A few years later, he enrolled at Trinity College Dublin to study music

but left to concentrate on writing and recording and signed a development deal with Universal.

Hosey was later taken on by independent label Ruby Works and in 2013 released his first EP

Take Me to Church. The video for the stunning title track subsequently went viral which brought

him to the attention of Columbia Records in the US who acted swiftly and decisively.

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