WHAT'S UP!


By Erin Gross SDUN Reporter


There’s nothing more disap- pointing than great music with bad lyrics. A few cringe-worthy lines and no matter how catchy the melody is I’m already over it. Luck- ily, Andrew Belle, pop’s new singer- songwriter who will be frequenting San Diego in just a few short weeks, is on the same sheet of music. The singer, who has been labeled by many as a writer of “smart pop,” identifies a leaning toward emotion as the key to his poignant lyrics. “I always write from a dramatic standpoint. Always. If I were a TV writer I’d certainly be working for ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ or something … maybe ‘LOST.’ I’m drawn to it for


some reason and it’s always my goal to write the most meaningful and thoughtful lyrics possible” Belle said. Belle, who hails from both Ten- nessee and Chicago, recalls always being drawn to music despite, like many adolescents, having parents who were not approving of his listening choices. “My dad was pretty strict with what I was allowed to listen to when I was a kid. I really don’t blame him. There was a lot of garbage music out there with the wrong message— there still is and always will be—and he was just looking out for me.” His father’s boundaries only made the grass on the other side seem greener.


“In a way though, it made music more attractive to me,” he said. “I


would record the radio for a few hours every day and then listen to it on my Walkman late at night until I fell asleep. I can remember really focusing and studying melody and lyrics—really being shaped by those songs. I absolutely believe that it’s those late nights, pouring over those songs, over and over, that shaped me to be the kind of writer I am today. That and all the girls who wouldn’t date me in high school.”


While getting girls may have been an issue in high school his dating situation may have changed since traveling across country on nationwide tours and having his songs played on a number of popular teen dramas, including “90210” and “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”


San Diego Uptown News | October 15-28, 2010


21 Rising singer-songwriter Andrew Belle to perform at Anthology, Nov. 14


In addition, Belle has a slew of other boasting rights to impress the ladies with. As a musician he cites his greatest achievements thus far as winning MTV’s Best Local Chicago Artist last year, being on Tennessee’s “Top Ten out of Tenn” tour and winning the pop category of The John Lennon Songwriting Competition. Belle said the first time he


heard one of his songs on TV was like an out of body experience. “It’s a moment where you


realize that there’s a reason you worked so hard on something for so long—all those hours of meticu- lous labor were not in vain and that there’s a reason why you’re doing what you do. There’s a validation element to it where you realize that


your parents really aren’t the only people who like your music!” However, Belle’s worries of going


unheard or even being disliked are hardly an issue now as his current tour with Tyrone Wells is already proving to be a hit. The singer is looking forward to playing San Di- ego for a variety of reasons but there is one in particular that he states stands out—the Mexican food! “Although, I’m attempting to be a


vegetarian on this tour so that could get a little tricky. All that temptation!” Though he may be suffering from a food coma, Andrew Belle is a true professional and his show at Anthol- ogy on Nov. 14 is guaranteed to be a good evening. Just ask his parents. For tickets or more information, visit anthologysd.com.u


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Andrew Belle's songs have been featured on “90210” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” FROM PAGE 19 BEEF


not have led to Uncle Lawrence’s demise, given his carnivorous nature, it’s not likely red meat did either. Tracing his food to its roots, it seems, led to his continuously re- markable state of health. (Tracing the partially hydrogenated soybean oil in that box of crackers you’re munching on to the factory from which it hailed doesn’t count.) The “buy local” mantra has reared its deliciously debonair head. And nowhere is it more important than in meat consumption. There exist in San Diego and


thereabouts beef purveyors who will let you tour their operations because they know you won’t go, hand over your mouth, run- ning from their facilities. One of those ranches is Brandt Beef of Brawley, two hours east of San Di- ego and home to humanely raised Holstein cattle. William Brandt, head of the


family, manages the ranch. His son, Mark, runs the feed op- eration, while another son, Ryan, tends to the composting and yet another son, Encinitas resident Eric, hand-selects the meat from each carcass at the LA processing plant. With a nose to tail mentality, every part of the animal is used— either in home kitchens by folks like us or by discriminating chefs,


many of whom stand at the helm of our local eateries. “We don’t cut corners,” Eric


said. “We hang the beef for 60 hours [and] we lose a percent and a half by letting it ... dry hang.” Which is a heckuva lot to forego in the meat business. “We still shroud [the beef] with big cheese cloths,” he added. “[We] don’t spray water on them like 95 percent of the industry.” Brandt Beef is sold at the


Hillcrest Farmers Market, where someone from the Brandt lineage is often there to chat it up, and at Harvest Ranch Market. And those discriminating chefs? Many are in your neck of the woods. Burger, steak or short rib cravings are at once curbed at these uptown restos that serve up the Brandt goodness. Be sure to pay the tab on your way out, though; a handshake no longer cuts it.u


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