Biography 

As long as she can remember, Inge Andersen loved poetry and music. Inspired by Dutch poets such as Hans Andreus and Ellen Warmond, the Canadian poet Irving Layton, and songwriters like Phil Ochs, Fred Neil, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor, she wrote many poems and songs.

She studied Educational Psychology in Utrecht and Amsterdam, got her Ph.D. in Social Sciences and has worked as a researcher and consultant. Throughout her career she has continued writing songs, performing regularly as a back-up singer.

In 2005, she accompanied Eric Andersen on his tour throughout Japan, providing back-up vocals. Many joint performances followed, in venues all over the globe. In 2006, Eric and Inge got married.

In 2008, she was invited by Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player Hallvard Bjørgum to record vocal harmonies for his album “Peace Will Come”. The song “ The Prodigal Son” -- produced by Hallvard Bjørgum and Garth Hudson from The Band -- documents Inge’s debut recording. The album was released in March 2009.

In 2009, Inge and Kersten de Ligny sang harmony for “The Lone Wolves”, a vocal collaboration of Eric Andersen, Ad Vanderveen and the Texan songwriter Richard Dobson. Spanning sixties Greenwich Village folk and today’s Americana, this project gave a musical overview from the protest singer to contemporary singer-songwriter.

In 2011, she performed as a guest on Eric Andersen’s webcast in Woodstock, New York, along with performers such as John Sebastian, Happy Traum and Joe Flood. Following the webcast, John Sebastian commented on her singing with – Inge, you were the secret weapon!

Performing as a back-up singer gave Inge a lot of stage experience. But given her passion for poetry and lyrics she wanted to record her own writings. In 2011, she recorded her debut album “Fallen Angel" in Italy. The album was produced for MEYER RECORDS by Eric Andersen, together with the Italian violinist, composer and song poet Michele Gazich. Eric, Inge and Michele Gazich had previously collaborated on Eric Andersen’s live album, The Cologne Concert, and they still perform together regularly.

Some responses and comments to Inge’s writing:

The lyrics cut you like a knife, but the songs are so beautiful that you bleed and say thank you. 

Paolo Costola, recording sound engineer of ‘Fallen Angel’ (Italy)

The songs on ‘Fallen Angel’, each one a distinctive gem, portray the dimensions, chapters and milestones of a journey. This record truly is a song journal; deeply personal and strikingly universal. …  In the world of singer-songwriters, Inge Andersen’s debut is among the most important this year (at a time when posturing and image seem to be more important than substance and art).  

Terry Roland, No Depression magazine (USA).

Inge Andersen has the gift to think out melodies that seem as familiar as a tailor made glove, and at the same time sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before.  Every note is right where it should be and yet the songs work so naturally that it seems as if coming up with melodies is the easiest thing for people to do in this world. Inge Andersen’s lyrics reveal the psychologist in her, though in a very unscientific way: her powers of observation and empathy. In a loving way, Inge Andersen tells the stories of the characters in her songs, as if they were her own children.  

Da Capo Schallplatten (Germany)