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When you're bald and have a white beard, it's hard to disguise the fact that you were around in the early sixties! But that's when Andrew first heard old recordings of raw, passionate acoustic blues from the likes of Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Blind Willie Johnson and others, whilst "roaming around the dial" on an old wooden radio late at night. This was around the time he also got his first guitar. Coincidence? (Andrew is far right in this photo from around 1963).
Through all the subsequent teenage crazes for the likes of The Shadows, The Beatles, The Who, The Stones, and - later - reggae and soul (all of which turn up occasionally in his sets!), Andrew never got over the passion and raw natural talent of those early blues soloists.
After a short spell with an amazing blues/skiffle/jugband called Barrelhouse Blues, then backing jazz/folk singer Jackie Byrne (CDs available - please contact), Andrew realised how much the buzz of playing old-style acoustic solo blues meant to him, and he's playing live solo gigs more now than ever!
Along the way, he has acquired a huge knowledge of the history of The Blues, as well as guitars, and now gives day-school talks on The Blues, as well as collecting and researching old guitars. You'll find more about these on the Guitars and Gigs pages.
There are loads of video clips of Andrew playing on the Guitars page. But - meanwhile - here's an old clip of him performing one of his favourite Muddy Waters numbers, "I Be's Troubled" (more often known as "Can't Be Satisfied").
(click on the photo)