The Andes: Electronic Press Kit

Quick Facts

The band

Hometown: Golden, Colorado
Genre: Americana, Indie Rock, Retro Rock
Formed: 2025
Debut Album: Keep It Together, Aug. 28, 2026 (Peak Alt Records)
Live Lineup: Andy Gross, Jeff Rady, Brad Turner, Nathan Bailey
Album Personnel: Stephen Bidwell (drums, Black Pumas), Casey Sidwell (bass), Lauren Frihauf (vocals), Stephano Intelisano (accordion, BoDeans)
Produced By: Nick Joswick
Mixed By: Jim Eno (Spoon), Public Hi-Fi Studio, Austin
Booking / Press Contact: Andy Gross, andogro@gmail.com, 303-906-4624

Bio

No sign of dry land

The Andes are a Golden, Colorado indie rock band led by songwriter Andy Gross and guitarist Jeff Rady, blending '70s mountain nostalgia with '80s suburban malaise on their debut album, Keep It Together.

Andy Gross wrote songs in Nashville until the songs stopped sounding like him. He came home to Colorado and enrolled in a guitar class taught by Jeff Rady, another Littleton kid who had left for Berklee College of Music and a stint touring with the Austin band Sea Legs before circling back home himself. They found they had grown up a few miles apart, gone to the same high school, and worn out the same Zeppelin, Floyd, R.E.M. and Stones tapes. That shared wavelength became The Andes.

Rady called in his old Sea Legs bandmate Stephen Bidwell, now the drummer for Black Pumas, and Denver bassist Casey Sidwell rounded out the session lineup. In five days at Glory Bird Studio, the bones of the ten song debut, Keep It Together, came together. Gross and Rady then worked with engineer producer Nick Joswick to layer in guitars, pedal steel, piano and organ, with vocalist Lauren Frihauf and accordionist Stephano Intelisano (BoDeans) rounding out the record. Jim Eno, the drummer for Spoon, mixed the album at his Public Hi-Fi studio in Austin.

The result blends '70s mountain haze with '80s suburban malaise: classic rock bones with experimental wiring, crooked time signatures, and lyrics about the halfway point where you haven't arrived yet but there's no turning back.

"The songs on Keep It Together explore the experiences that shaped me growing up and continue to hold sway, the desire to connect deeply with the world and the forces that sometimes stand in the way." (Andy Gross, The Andes)

Radio

On the air

"Unwind" has picked up confirmed community and public radio airplay at more than 30 stations nationwide. Highlights include:

WXPN 88.5 FM: Philadelphia, PA. Home of World Cafe, one of the most respected tastemaker stations in Americana and AAA radio.
The Colorado Sound 105.5 FM: Statewide, Colorado. Hometown flagship airplay.
KUNC 91.5 FM: Greeley / Northern Colorado. Major NPR affiliate.
WMVY 88.7 FM: Martha's Vineyard, MA. Nationally respected AAA tastemaker station.
WXNA Nashville 101.5 FM: Nashville, TN.
KFAI 90.3 FM: Minneapolis, MN.
KLCC 89.7 FM: Eugene, OR. NPR affiliate.
KRVS 88.7 FM Radio Acadie: Lafayette, LA. NPR affiliate.

Additional airplay spans Colorado (KAFM, KRZA, KSUT, KOTO, KLZR), the Alaska Public Radio Network (KMXT, KUAC, KHNS, KRNN, KUCB, KBRW, KNBA, KSTK, KTNA, KFSK, KCAW, KNOM), and stations in New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and California.

Pedigree

Shared stages

The Andes are a new project, but its members bring years of road experience. Collectively, they have played some of Colorado's best known rooms and shared bills with a long list of touring acts.

Notable Venues: Red Rocks, The Ogden Theatre, The Bluebird Theater, The Oriental Theater, Aggie Theatre, Fox Theatre, Stargazers Theatre
Played Alongside: Patrick Dethlefs, Mark Morris & Rapidgrass, Strange Americans, Casey Prestwood, Whipporwhil, Jesse Manley, The Futurebirds, 78 Bombs, Colder than Fargo, Spider Kings, Vena Cava
Opened For: Fruit Bats, Drive-By Truckers, Dwight Yoakam, Clint Black, Elephant Revival, Asleep at the Wheel, The Mother Hips, Leftover Salmon, Bonnie Raitt, Guided by Voices, AA Bondy, Low