By Gustavo Martir M.A.
Bryan Andrews doesn’t fit the traditional mold of a country star, for he is not chasing
commercial polish or big-city glamour. Instead, he’s carving his own lane with one
heartbreak, one honest lyric, and one viral TikTok at a time. With a warm, yet powerful
voice and a songwriting pen that cuts deep, the Carrollton, Missouri native is leading a
new wave of country artists resonating with fans not by selling an image, but by telling
the truth.
Andrews is authentic, real, and raw as they come. His songs feel genuine, confessional,
and rooted in real lived experiences because they are and that is why Andrews’ music
has found a massive audience online. Has built a loyal fanbase through TikTok, where
he posts funny skits about cultural and social trends, gives us brief insights into his
personal life and daily tasks, as well as long and loud political rants that hit hard, but
that resonate with millions of people. His latest single, Blue, is proof of just how much
Bryan Andrews can resonate with people.
Bryan Andrews was born in Boise, Idaho, but it’s the small-town rhythm of Carrollton,
Missouri that pulses through his music. He was raised by his two parents. “Both my
parents got a job teaching in my hometown. Uh, where my dad grew up as well, and
they’re music teachers, so that’s kind of how I got started into music,” he says. His
mother had earned a degree in piano pedagogy from the University of
Nebraska–Lincoln, and his father a music educator from the University of Central
Missouri. No doubt that Andrews grew up steeped in melody and harmony. While he
always knew it was his passion, it took a winding road of career shifts to realize it was
also his purpose.
After a short stint in college, Andrews dropped out, realizing the academic route wasn’t
for him. He turned to welding school, then hit the road with a group of friends, traveling
job to job, welding pipe across the country. “I loved working on the road. I got a lot of
world experience that I would have never had if it wasn’t for working on the road,” he
says as he reminisces about his traveling days he continues, “it’s definitely a tough life,
and it’s a life that’s not for everybody, but there’s money to be made out there.” It was
during those long days and quiet nights on the road that he picked up his guitar more
seriously. Songwriting soon followed.
At the time, all of his buddies were on TikTok, something Andrews hadn’t even heard of
the app. But once he downloaded it and saw other people sharing original songs, he
figured, why not? But he never envisioned just how popular he would become. “If I could
just get to, like, 10,000 followers, I would think I’d be able to do this… I just kept posting,
and I remember hitting 3,000 followers, and I was like really kind of trying to take
[TikTok] serious, and all my buddies were like, ‘what are you doing’, you know? Like, ‘it’s
an app, dude. Like, what are you doing?’ And I was like. ‘Dude, I’m just saying, I think it
could go somewhere’. And they were like, ‘okay, okay’, you know, and now, 5 years
later, I have 3 million… that’s why I always tell people to keep posting.”
Read The Full Feature in RYM Magazine – August 2025 Available Now!
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