Percussionist, Drummer, Educator, Composer, and Clinician, Andy Smith has performed in the national spotlight for over two decades. A former resident of Nashville, Tennessee, Andy taught as Adjunct Percussion Instructor at Middle Tennessee State University from 1999-2008. He recorded for producers and in studios including Omni Sound Studios, Sound Emporium, Dark Horse Recording, Refugee International, and many others. He is a regular clinician in a variety of settings for all ages across the country, including the Kentucky PAS (Percussive Arts Society) Day of Percussion, the Georgia PAS Day of Percussion, the North Alabama PAS Day of Percussion, the Indiana Percussion Association State Day of Percussion, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Mars Hill College in North Carolina, and the University of North Alabama where he also served on the faculty from 2007-2008. He is the percussion instructor for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, a state sponsored program for elite college-bound musicians. 

Andy has studied drum-set and Afro-Cuban Music with Michael Spiro, Lalo Davila, Ed Uribe, Victor Mendoza, Ian Froman, Alan Hall, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Richie “Gajate” Garcia, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Jesus Diaz.  He also traveled to Ghana, West Africa where he studied West African drumming and dance with Paschal Younge, Johnson Kemeh, and others. He studied gyil and West African drumming and dance with Bernard Woma in the United States. Andy’s orchestral teachers include John Tafoya, Peter Tanner, Jim Ancona, Thom Hannum and Kevin Bobo. In 2012, Andy was awarded a Tinker Foundation grant to study contemporary Brazilian Jazz drumming in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There he met and studied with Edu Ribeiro, Celso Almeida, Ramon Montagner, Robertinho Silva, Oscar Bolão, and others. 

Andy has performed with myriad artists including Lalo Davila, Mat Britain, Mambo Blue, Michael Spiro, Almir Cortes, Tom Walsh, Bernard Woma, and The Canadian Brass. He has been recorded on numerous albums and instructional videos and has performed at Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center. Currently living in Bloomington, IN, completing a Doctor of Music degree at the Jacobs School of Music, Andy performs with regional orchestras, including the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. His Brazilian Jazz Quintet has been featured at local Jazz festivals and on WFHBs Local Live program. Andy’s recently formed Latin-Jazz Piano Trio, Mixteto Sonido, with bassist Natalie Boeyink and pianist Jamaal Baptiste is currently preparing to record an EP and booking Jazz festivals and regional tours. Other current projects include co-teaching Zimbabwean marimba classes with his wife, Amy Smith, and playing with Steel Panache, a professional group dedicated to the dissemination of “Trini” Panorama musical aesthetic. Other recent performances include the Jazz Education Network Convention, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Lotus Music Festival, and grant sponsored workshops with Bernard Woma, Musical Ambassador to Ghana. Andy is Assistant Director to Michael Spiro’s Indiana University Bateria, performing at Carnaval festivals in Bloomington and Indianapolis.  

A versatile composer and arranger, Andy is published by Row-Loff Publications. Additionally, Andy self-publishes his works for solo percussion with electronics, percussion chamber ensembles, Latin-Jazz combo, flute trio, and mixed chamber duos (asmithdrum.com). His music is regularly performed all over the country. Andy’s experimental graphic score for percussion trio, Fora da Caixa is written for the international artist group Caixa Percussion Trio. His recent quartet, Brazilian Suite for Tambourines was premiered at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, June 2013. He is endorsed by Pearl/Adams, Evans drumheads and Innovative Percussion.