Andy is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and music scholar who has had many diverse musical experiences, from touring Mexico playing Mariachi music, to performing on main stages at major folk festivals, to singing as a soloist in European cathedrals. He is the founder of the popular Canadian celtic funk band Mad Pudding, plays guitar and sings with the innovative fiddler Jaime RT (their latest duo CD "Spark" nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award), and provided the driving rhythm guitar behind The McDades (whose latest CD "Bloom", on which he played, has won two Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Juno Award for Best Folk/Traditional Group) from 2005-2007. Andy was a member of the Juno-nominated vocal collective Musica Intima from 1994-2005, is former director of the Universal Gospel Choir (1993-1999), and has directed the Youth & Concert choirs at the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach. Andy has taught workshops on Celtic guitar for the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, the Sunshine Coast Summer School of Celtic Music, and the Saltspring Fiddle Camp. He has been on the faculty of Vancouver Community College and currently teaches an acoustic roots ensemble at the University of Toronto. He is one of Canada’s most in demand accompanists for traditional music and plays regularly with well known fiddlers such as Pierre Schryer and Ann Lederman.
Andy has an MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia, and is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Toronto.
As a musician Andy feels that as much as we talk about and analyze music, there is a spirit beyond all technique and style that we will never understand, thank goodness. Like musicians everywhere, he tries to plug into that mysterious thing whenever he picks up a guitar to play or opens his mouth to sing.
Andy plays tenor banjo, and is interested in further exploring rhythmic string instruments such as the cavaquinho and vihuela some day when he gets the time. He is currently studying Brazilian percussion with Alan Hetherington as part of the Toronto Escola de Samba, and has studied tabla with Ustad Ilmas Hussain Khan, a hereditary tabla master from Lucknow, India.
Andy says "I am so lucky to be able to play music like this for a living, and to perform, teach and think about music and it’s role in peoples lives. Many great people in my life and it takes the edge off this insane world to be able to connect with people this way, whether they are professional or amateur musicians. I love singing, I love rhythm guitar, aiming all the time to groove a little harder, be in the moment and connect with the people I play with. That really about sums it up!!!!"
