Andy Grammer joins Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops to open the spring 2018 season at Symphony Hall on May 10, with a concert that repeats May 11; he'll also perform at Tanglewood June 22.

By R. Scott Reedy, Correspondent

When singer/songwriter Andy Grammer broke through on the pop charts in 2011, he broke big.

With the back-to-back feel-good hits “Keep Your Head Up” and “Fine By Me,” from his self-titled debut album, Grammer became the first male pop star in a decade to reach the Top 10 on Adult Pop Radio with his first two singles.

He kept the hits coming, too, with the triple-platinum “Fresh Eyes,” “Honey, I’m Good,” one of 2015’s best-selling songs, and the certified gold anthem “Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)” off his second album, “Magazines or Novels.”

When it came time for his third album, 2017’s “The Good Parts,” Grammer wanted to continue that winning formula, while also evolving.

“I’m always trying to broaden the spectrum of colors I paint with," Grammer said during a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles. "And I think one of the best ways to use contrast is by being as honest as possible. By pushing boundaries and being self-deprecating, you can also go for the sweeter things.

“I like to write positive, happy songs. I know they can sometimes come across as too sweet, but it takes real effort to make something happy not sound cheesy,” he said. “I feel like that is my life’s work. And these days, we need love in all its forms.”

Grammer joins Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops to open the spring 2018 season at Symphony Hall on May 10, with a concert that repeats May 11. He'll also perform at Tanglewood June 22.

The singer’s legion of fans have continued to show him love since the December release of "The Good Parts" on S-Curve Records.

“There was a lot more pressure on the second album. I felt like if I didn’t get it right on the second album, there might not be a third. It went so well, though, that there was more freedom with this one, which let me go to different places with the music,” says Grammer.

For Grammer, son of singer and songwriter Robert Crane “Red” Grammer and the late Kathryn Willoughby, getting to one of those places meant candid conversations with his friends, and even some relative strangers.

“The idea of this album is that we all have a deeper story to tell. It is harder to get to for some people, but if you sit with them you can get to the deeper, more interesting parts of the story. On tour with my last album, I would have ‘Good Parts’ roundtables in each city so I could meet people and hear their stories.

“It was about sharing feelings and being genuinely vulnerable. Your vulnerability is a gift you give to others. It’s how we get closer,” he says.

Grammer, who competed on the 21st season of ABC-TV’s “Dancing with the Stars,” finishing in seventh place, acknowledges that the approach to his latest album is one he has taken in his own personal life for some time.

“My friends say I’m always trying to take things deeper. They’re right. I can’t have another conversation about the weather. I’m sorry, but I have to go deeper.

“My mother died nine years ago and around my last birthday I was really missing her. So I invited a bunch of my closest friends to get together and share memories. We ended up ugly crying for about four hours. It was all about telling the best parts of our stories, not leaving anything out, which is what this album does track by track,” says the 34-year-old.

For the prolific songwriter, a new album means writing many more than the needed 10 or 12 songs.

“I’ve always written a lot of songs. We have a super-high standard and it can take 100 songs to get just what you need for an album. For this one, it took 115.

“When you write so many songs, the quality can be hard to achieve. It takes a lot of energy and time to write even one song that rolls off the tongue,” according to Grammer.

Grammer was 15 when he first discovered songwriting.

“I grew up in a house where my dad was a Grammy-nominated children’s songwriter and I learned to play the trumpet as a child. In high school, however, I was all about basketball.

“Then one day I pulled my head up for Lauryn Hill and John Mayer and took a full left turn to music and songwriting,” he said.

His life took another turn last summer, when he and wife Aijia Lise welcomed their first child, daughter Louisiana K, born July 28, 2017.

“When it comes to Louie, my wife calls me ‘Soft Serve,’ ” says the proud father with a laugh. “So much of what makes life worth living is balance. I’m a really intense guy, and Louie has given me balance. I turn off my phone for my child.”

And what does the 9-month-old think of her pop star father?

“We had her out with us recently and she came on stage with me in Detroit. She was fully asleep in my arms. I think she might have slept through the whole show.”

No word yet on whether or not Louie will be in Boston, but her father says he is definitely ready to be back.

“It’s very different doing my music with the Boston Pops. It’s a big deal and it’s also very sweet. I love being one voice in a huge congregation of great musicians,” he says.

 

Opening Night at Pops & Presidents at Pops with Andy Grammer

WHEN: May 9–10

WHERE: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston

TICKETS: Start at $36

INFO:  617-266-1200; bostonpops.org

 

Andy Grammer and the Boston Pops

WHEN: June 22

WHERE: Tanglewood, 297 West St., Lenox

TICKETS: Start at $26

INFO:  888-266-1200; tanglewood.org

*******

2018 Boston Pops Season

Opening Night at Pops with Andy Grammer

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Andy Grammer, special guest

Wednesday, May 9, 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 10, 8 p.m. Presidents at Pops

 

Leonard Bernstein Centennial Tribute

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Matthew Anderson, baritone; Teresa Winner Blume, lyric coloratura; Aimee Doherty, actor/singer;

David McFerrin, baritone; and Andrew Tighe, baritone, Paula Plum, stage director

Friday, May 11, 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 12, 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 17, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 29, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 30, 8 p.m.

 

Disney’s Broadway Hits

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Ashley Brown, Josh Strickland, Alton Fitzgerald White, and Merle Dandridge, vocalists

Saturday, May 12, 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 13, 3 p.m.

 

Rock the Pops with Alfie Boe

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Alfie Boe, special guest

Tuesday, May 15, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 16, 8 p.m.

 

John Williams’ Film Night

John Williams, conductor

Thomas Wilkins, conductor

Wednesday, May 23, 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 24, 8 p.m.

 

The Best of the Boston Pops

Thomas Wilkins, conductor

Tuesday, May 22 8 p.m. (Arthur Fiedler Night)

Friday, May 25, 8 p.m.

 

On The Town

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Kathleen Marshall, director and choreographer

David Chase, music director

Thursday, May 31, 8 p.m.

Friday, June 1, 8 p.m.

 

Gospel Night

Charles Floyd, conductor

Melinda Doolittle, vocalist

Boston Pops Gospel Choir

Saturday, June 2, 8 p.m.

 

A Broadway Celebration with Sutton Foster

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Sutton Foster, special guest

Wednesday, June 6, 8 p.m.

Thursday, June 7, 8 p.m.

 

Dance to the Movies

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Lesley Ann Warren, special guest

Tristan MacManus and Anna Trebunskaya, Dancing with the Stars dancers

Saturday, June 9, 3 p.m.

Saturday, June 9, 8 p.m.

 

An Evening with Leslie Odom Jr.

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Leslie Odom, Jr., special guest

Tuesday, June 12 8 p.m.

Wednesday, June 13, 8 p.m.

Thursday, June 14, 8 p.m.

 

West Side Story in Concert

Keith Lockhart, conductor

Ali Ewoldt (Maria), Matthew Hydzik (Tony), Natalie Cortez (Anita), John Arthur Greene (Riff),

Mikey Winslow (Winslow), Christopher Rice (Baby John), Alex Ringler (Diesel), Ryan Ghysels (A-rab),

Clay Thomson (Snowboy), Maya Post (Rosalia/A Girl), Tanairi Sade Vazquez (Consuelo),

Alexandra Blake Redelico (Francisca), German Alexander (Bernardo), and Dean Andre de Luna (Chino)

Friday, June 15, 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 16, 3 p.m.

Saturday, June 16, 8 p.m.