Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins‘ skills as mandolinist, vocalist and composer, have put him in the centre of a growing Canadian acoustic-music scene. He is a founding member of several of Canada’s top acoustic string bands including the Creaking Tree String Quartet, The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Crazy Strings and the “new/old” country string band Lickin’ Good Fried. With these bands, Andrew is called to explore several musical genres, spanning Bluegrass, Jazz, Blues, Swing, Celtic and Classical music.Both the Creaking Tree String Quartet and the Foggy Hogtown Boys have been recognized for their work as the recipients of several awards, including a Juno Nomination for Best Roots & Traditional album of 2004, a 2005 Canadian Folk Music Award for Pushing the Boundaries and several Central Canada Bluegrass association awards, most notably Mandolin player of the year in 2005.As a solo artist Andrew has recorded and produced several albums of original instrumental music. Among them include a recent solo album, entitled “little Widgets” which earned him a 2006 Canadian Folk Music Award for Pushing the Boundaries. “Little widgets”. This self produced album features nine original instrumental compositions, showcasing his abilities as multi- instrumentalist on mandolin, guitar, mandola, mandocello and fiddle.This spring marks the addition of three new releases to Andrew’s discography, one by each of the Foggy Hogtown Boys and Creaking Tree String Quartet and a collaboration with Irish native Brian Taheney. With these projects and several more in the works, there should be no doubt that Andrew will be an integral force in the evolution and advancement of string music in Canada and beyond.