Singer-songwriter Andrew Ripp will appear as part of his ‘Simple Tour’ 9 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Maintenance Shop backed up by Americana folk band Judah & the Lion.

Recognized for pushing genre boundaries, Andrew Ripp is a rising pop-rock artist from Palatine, Illinois. Ripp is praised for his exceptional singing voice, as well as for crafting nuance music.

“[My music] is in the singer/songwriter category on iTunes,” Ripp said. “It’s not rock, it’s not pop, and it’s not soul, but it’s got all of those elements mixed in to one sound. But they call it singer-songwriter on iTunes, so that’s what I am. I’m a singer-songwriter.”

Ripp began imagining a life in music while attending college in California.

“I moved to [Los Angeles] when I was 18 to go to college,” Ripp said. “I wound up spending a lot of time in class scribbling down lyrics and thinking about songs, what it might be like to be songwriter. I seriously started considering pushing for music when I was 18.”

While attending a band’s show in Los Angeles, Ripp began his venture into the world of songwriting.

“I was blown away by the sound of the music, and also by the songwriting,” Ripp said. “After that show I went up to the lead singer and I asked him if he wouldn’t mind writing some songs with me, because I loved what he was doing.” 

Ripp was introduced into the music industry co-writing songs on Ryan Cabrera’s 2005 release “You Stand Watching.”

“[Ryan Cabrera] heard a demo CD of mine, the first five songs I ever recorded,” Ripp saids. “He got a hold of that demo, loved what he had heard, and decided to cut a couple of those demos for his record. We started hanging out and he became a dear friend of mine. He still is.”

Ripp has played shows with Sara Bareilles and has been on two tours with the popular rock band Parachute.

“It’s a super fun brotherhood that [Parachute] have,” Ripp said. “They’ve got a very unique friendship between them in the band, and I think they included me in on that. It was really fun.”

Ripp’s tour is in promotion for his latest release, “Simple”, which debuted on Jan. 21. Andrew took a minimalist approach after hearing strong feedback for his acoustic live shows.

“I’ve been playing shows for the last four years stripped down acoustic style,” Ripp said. “Almost every night, I’ll have gotten off stage, and somebody will have tweeted ‘hey man, I loved your record, but when are you going to make an acoustic version of these songs? That’s what we love, that’s what we want to hear.’ Finally I just said ‘you know what? I’m going to give the sound that they want’, and I just made a record like that; I stripped it down.”

Response to the album has proven to be more positive than Ripp’s previous efforts, even with less promotion.

“I think the fans are just responding because that’s the way that they fell in love with my music in the first place,” Ripp said. “They saw me play with a guitar and do my own thing without the band, and that’s what they’re getting on this record.” 

Fans in attendance for Friday night’s show will be privy to Ripp’s simplistic approach in the M-Shop’s intimate atmosphere.

“I’ve never been to Ames before, but I’m excited,” Ripp said. “I love smaller venues. I feel like home in a small listening area.”

Ripp left an intriguing as well as humorous promise for music lovers at Iowa State who have never heard Ripp before.

“It’s kind of hard to explain without hearing the music,” Ripp said. “But if you like Fergie, and you like Jesus, you mix them together and you’ve got Andrew Ripp.”

You can see just that this Friday at 9 p.m. with doors open at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 7 in the M-Shop. Tickets cost $8 for students and $10 for the public, with a $2 increase the day of the show. Tickets are available in person at the M-Shop box office or online at midwestix.com.