Bio
EAST TO WEST
Little Saints are an original band born in Saratoga Springs, NY. The three-piece, genre-bending combo is made up of singer/songwriter Natalie Santini, guitarist Andy Arnold, and bassist Ian Dingman. The band was founded by Natalie and Andy who- after having met in early 2019- decided to team up to work on melding Natalie’s devotion to powerfully agile singing, and honest, mature songwriting with Andy’s love for raw-yet-refined guitar playing. Little Saints draws on influences from artists like Brandi Carlile, Stevie Wonder, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band as well as peers around them in their musical environment to craft a style they can call their own somewhere between Americana, Indie-Folk, and Modern Soul. Little Saints leans on their collective 50 years of experience in an aim to deliver a genuine musical experience filled with harrowing lyrics and mature, refined instrumentation
Fronting the group with a powerful voice and precise pen is Western NY native Natalie Santini. She began her musical career in her adolescence as a singer/guitarist, building momentum as she serenaded her way into SUNY Fredonia- an institution credited with a decorated music program to study… science. There, she cast a wide net into different musical ventures including singing in a capella groups, and learning the fundamentals of a variety of different instruments. Afterwards, life led Natalie into the backcountry of the Adirondack mountains where she was slinging chainsaws and would then go on to teach environmental education- where she would gain more and more inspiration to meld her performance abilities with honest songwriting. It is there where she met Little Saints’ guitarist, Andy Arnold.
Andy is native to Glens Falls, New York and grew up surrounded by music. In his bedroom 9 months of the year, he fell asleep nightly to an Ozzy Osbourne CD. The other 3 months of the year, he spent many hours of most days bathing in the steel guitars, bright guitars, and weeping lyrics of the classic country records his grandparents always had on the stereo. Fast forward some years, and Andy spent most of his high school time experience blowing off homework to squeeze extra practice time out after school. It didn’t pay off in honor roll grades, but it did eventually pay off in the form of acceptance into the Berklee College of Music. Though he wasn’t able to attend, Andy found himself even more hungry than before to expand upon the skills that got him in and focus them towards creating his own voice on the instrument. All the while, five minutes away in the same town of Glens Falls, NY, Little Saints bassist Ian Dingman was busy doing the same.
Ian’s musical experience started hands-on at a young age where he began playing the upright bass as part of the school music system. Ian remained dedicated to his studies playing in orchestra every year- all the while applying what he was learning on upright to the electric bass. Ian’s talents, consistent practice, and persistence eventually landed him a coveted spot performing with the World Civic Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York City while he was still just a senior in high school. Post high school, Ian gained acceptance into the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York, where he would later graduate with a bachelors degree in music education. Ian has utilized this degree to help afford blossoming music students the same opportunities he was presented as a kid by being an orchestra teacher himself when he isn’t leading the rhythm section on stage near you.
