ATHENA ANDREADIS

Described by the British press as “A rare diamond”, “A voice blessed”, “A singer destined for great things”

“A voice of great emotional resonance”

”Brave and original.” – The Guardian

“A talented rising star” – Billboard Magazine

Athena keeps touching peoples’ hearts with her powerfully emotive voice.

Athena Andreadis is one of those people who live and breathe and think and talk about music and she writes with the same sort of direct focus. During a one hour Channel 5 / Sky Arts documentary made about her in the UK, legendary songwriter Chris Difford (Squeeze) described Athena as someone who, “writes and sings from the heart. She doesn’t need to be packaged by anyone – she is simply and beautifully her.” She has the same sort of clear artistic vision that marks out Ed Sheeran or Adele or John Legend and it’s matched with a fresh, limitless ambition.

Born in London to Greek parents, Athena’s mother would sing her to sleep. Despite all the music around the house, the young Athena was encouraged to study business, so she headed to Bath University but continued performing. After securing a First Class Degree in Business, Athena enrolled at Trinity College, London, where she graduated from with two post-graduate degrees in Classical and Jazz Voice.  Her consistent performing throughout her school years inevitably lead to Athena recording her debut album, Breathe With Me, which drew many excellent reviews, indeed The Guardian commenting that she was “Brave and original. A remarkably fine singer songwriter.” Since then she has headlined and sold out numerous UK tours, played at Glastonbury, had songs covered by other artists and seen her own music synced with TV, commercials and movies. All the while Athena has built a strong and sizeable following with the sort of word of mouth that can only come from connecting directly with the emotional heart of your audience.

She has collaborated, recorded, performed and written songs with several internationally acclaimed and award-winning artists & songwriters including Eric Appapoulay (Natasha Bedingfield, Cat Stevens), Richard Causon (Ryan Adams, Ethan Johns, The Kings of Leon, Rufus Wainwright), Geoff Martyn (Travis), Chaz Jankel (Blockheads), Marti Pellow (Wet Wet Wet), David Saw (Carly Simon, Ben Taylor), Adam Levy (Norah Jones), Mike Rowe (Sheryl Crowe), Ben Trigg (Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight), Darren Berry (La Roux), Chesney Hawkes, Richard Cassell (Plan B), Ethan Allen (Ben Harper), Miles Zuniga (Fastball), Tobias Froberg (Ane Brun, Lisa Ekdahl), Leslie Satcher and Rebecca Martin,  for which Athena also won an award as a songwriter (“You’re Older” for Rebecca Martin’s album Growing Season) for which they won the Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album at the Independent Music Awards (USA).  She has had several cuts on other artists records too, as well as syncs on TV networks like CBS and NBC in the US, and films internationally.

Peeling Apples her second album was produced by Swedes Magnus Frykberg and Tobias Froberg (Ane Brun and Lisa Ekdahl), and co-writers on the record include Richard Causon (Ryan Adams, Ethan Johns, The Kings of Leon, Rufus Wainwright), and Jamie Hartman (Joss Stone, Anastacia) features on a duet. Further to headlining London Bush Hall, her first single, “Finding England” featured on the cover album of Word magazine and was selected for the Visit England campaign to coincide with the London Olympics 2012. Her song ‘Breathe Again’ featured on Concern’s annual TV ad campaign in the UK & Ireland for several consecutive years.

She also released her debut album with SONY in Greece, and her second record with EMI, and in 2014 she released a Greek-language record ‘Giini Aggeli (Earth Angels) co-produced by Giorgos Andreou (Tsaligopoulou, Dalaras, Vitali, Alkinoos Ioannidis) featuring Lina Nikolakopoulou (Haris Alexiou, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Alkistis Protopsalti) with UNIVERSAL– EMI.

Starbucks picked Athena to be their exclusive artist in 2014-2016 and her albums sold in all stores (Greece & Cyprus) raising money for charity. The co-branding deal is still running successfully to this day.

Classic Greek composer Yiannis Markopoulos chose Athena to sing on his long awaited new record also featuring George Dalaras. Athena also featured singing on the Save The Children TV ad in the UK with her version of ‘Silent Night’ (winter 2014-2015) and the TV commercial campaign coming up in Germany (winter 2016).

In 2015 Athena relocated to Los Angeles and recorded her U.S. album, Ready for the Sun at The Village Studios with producer Ethan Allen (Ben Harper, Sheryl Crowe), and Grammy award winners, Jim Watts (engineer) and David Collins (mastering). Musicians on the record include Deron Johnson (Miles Davis), Jimmy Paxson (Stevie Nicks), Michael Ward (Ben Harper) and Jonathan Flaugher (Ryan Adams), as well as album art direction and design by 3-time Grammy award winner Kevin Reagan (Madonna).

Being in Los Angeles quickly provided Athena a life-changing experience when she was selected as the featured artist on Leonard Cohen’s latest record You Want It Darker, where she sings the chorus on the poignant, poetic track “Traveling Light”; Cohen carries the verses. The track, produced by Cohen’s son Adam Cohen, features mandolins and an overall Greek vibe that connects perfectly with Athena’s rich cultural background.

Athena first got wind of Leonard Cohen’s interest in her when she did an interview with a Greek journalist and the writer told her that when asked who his favorite Greek singer was, the icon mentioned her. While following her career, Adam noticed Athena was living and recording Ready for the Sun in Los Angeles and invited her to participate on the new album. She was a perfect fit for the song.

Fresh off the heels of one of the most inspirational periods of her music career, Athena is ready to release her first US recorded and produced album, Ready for the Sun. The featured tracks, “You Bring Me Luck” and “Stronger” reflect two different sides to Athena as an artist, and the entire album carries the common thread of warmth and positivity that she reveals not just with her music, but with her whole person and her approach to life.

In May 2016 Rolling Stone talked about Athena’s environmental work as ambassador of the Plastic Pollution Coalition (USA) alongside other notable individuals Maroon 5, Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.

She is now also a NARAS (GRAMMYs) voting member of the academy.