As the son of a jazz keyboardist and a singer, it's fair to say that George Tandy Jr. had music in his blood before he was even born. But while the passion may have been a family affair, the hustle was something he learned on his own. 

"I worked at Starbucks and the CEO of Redstar Entertainment [Cima Georgevich] would come in and order his drinks, and it got to the point where he only wanted me to make his drinks," remembered the Miami-based singer. "I was on my music hustle, so one time I passed him his drink and I also slid in a CD. He showed interest and here we are," he added.

Since then, George has made a name for himself with his soulful voice and his ability to fuse R&B with jazz. A sound he crafted with a little help from George Tandy Sr.

"I learned about the passion behind creating music from my dad, his wife, and their kid," said George Jr. "Fast forward a little bit, he helped me produce a bunch of songs on The Foundation [his debut EP]. Dad adds a wealth of knowledge as far as arranging is concerned. He's been doing it for 40-50 years, so he takes it to another level."

One of those songs George Sr. helped to produce was "March," which has already been making a splash on radio stations across the country.

In addition to his recorded music, George Jr. has also garnered a tremendous buzz from his high energy live show, which is something he says comes from the other side of the family.

"I would watch my mom's charisma when she was young," he recalled. "She would interact with the audience and have everybody engaged, and I think I adopted that style. I keep it human during my shows. If something funny happens in the crowd, we're gonna interact, and when I sing, you're gonna sing the songs with me. I have a really silly personality that adds some contrast to some of these emotionally demanding songs," he said.

If there's one thing he's learned, he added, it's that the "human" factor is important because the best songs come from the heart. "I don't trap myself inside a particular genre," Tandy concluded. "I let the lyrics lead me."

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(Photo: RedStar Entertainment)