ANDY COWAN

Andy's musical career began in a household surrounded by music. After an intensive classical music education, he began to join bands with friends, playing the infamous Farfisa organ. As well he was listening to Blues, Soul and R&B from such artists as Muddy Waters, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett amongst many others. In his early teenage bands, he used to share vocals with the other band members - picking up on the phrasing and tone of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

A move to Queensland, saw him studying with Glen Marks, a retired ABC Musical Director, who taught him about improvising, jazz & swing bass. A move back to Melbourne in the late 70's eventuated in joining Ayer's Rock, before moving onto a stint with Kevin Borich. During the late 80's, Andy supported himself by doing piano bar work, until he scored a residency at the Dr. Feelgood bar in Melbourne, where he played Dr John, Ray Charles and Champion Jack Dupree. He then realized that what he really wanted to do was perform his own blues styled material.

In 1998, Andy released his first solo album - Train I'm On - a blues album without a guitar as Andy states: "I didn't want straight rock instrumentation....Georgie Fame, Ray Charles and Dr John didn't use a lot of guitar". The album garnered positive reviews and launched Andy as one of the premier attractions on the music festival circuit. ABC Radio placed the album on rotation, resulting in a national profile for Andy. The follow up album One Of These Days, was released in a August 1999. This album was recorded live, capturing the energy and atmosphere of his live performances. As with Andy's first CD, the reviews were glowing - Lee Howard from Melbourne's Sunday Herald-Sun claiming .... "spine tingling stuff. We all need one of these days". Recognition of the album's worth was sealed by it being named Album Of The Year at the 2000 Victorian/Tasmanian Blues Awards.

Andy is now firmly established as one of Australia's foremost rhythm and blues vocalists/instrumentalists. His success as a live performer is based on his ability to weave an emotional magic when he performs, wrapping his audience in his energy and commitment. Like the greatest of the Blues musicians, Andy has arrived at his music after a long and winding journey -the resulting confidence, maturity and taste are well earned and deeply embedded. Andy has definitely arrived.