Matt Andersen brings Juno-nominated album home to headline Halifax Jazz Fest

Matt Andersen got his start in Halifax, playing at Stayner’s Wharf on the waterfront, overlooking the harbour. After two decades, more than 15 albums and dozens of awards, Stayner's is closed, but Andersen is still looking at the harbour, only from a higher vantage point. Success has taken him across Canada and around the world to play the blues with his band, “The Big Bottle of Joy”.

On Friday night, “The Big Bottle of Joy” will headline the TD mainstage at the Halifax Jazz Festival.

“The best spot to be right now,” Andersen told CTV News Atlantic’s Katie Kelly while sitting on the patio at Halifax’s Central Library, overlooking the stage where he will perform.

Andersen plays festivals all around the world, but he said it’s a special experience to headline the jazz festival in Halifax.

“It’s kind of where I cut my teeth was playing around here,” he said, adding it feels good to come home and recognize faces in the crowd.

Andersen’s latest album, “Matt Andersen and the Big Bottle of Joy,” earned him a Juno nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year.

“We produced it here in Halifax,” Andersen said. “It felt like a home project kind of thing, so to get the nod for that was pretty cool.”

Andersen said he put the album together with some of his best friends, so it’s fitting he brings “The Big Bottle of Joy” home to Halifax to share his music with the community that helped him create and record it.

“It's an album I've had in my head for a long time, but never had the right pieces to put together to make it. So I finally did,” he said.

Tickets to see Matt Andersen are available for purchase at the Halifax Jazz Festival.

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