Andrew Smith's page

Hi there and welcome to the Andy Smith webpage
Here you can find a little about my history as a musician and details about my current activities.

Thank you for visiting and hopefully I'll see you at one of my gigs in the near future

Having started to play guitar at the age of eleven, I eventually got into my first proper gigging band, The Above, at the age of 20, back in 1980.
The Above were formed at the height of the New Wave/Punk era and comprised Keith Sutton - vocals, Chris Pearson - bass, Mick Commons - drums, John Mansley - lead guitar, and myself on rhythm guitar. The music we played was all self written by various members of the band and was distinctly along the lines of the hard edged punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Damned and the like.
After a series of successful gigs around the northwest of England, politics got in the way of the music and I was forced to leave the band towards the end of 1980.
I soon found a place in a band called Risk, again performing original songs but with a more poppy commercial style. We actually played our first gig, playing support to another band called Zanzibar at the Moonraker pub in Preston, on the night that my great hero, John Lennon, was gunned down in New York (8 December 1980). I clearly remember waking up the next day in high spirits after a successful gig, only to find that feeling of euphoria swept away big style when I turned on the radio in time for the 7.30am news.
Risk turned out to be a short lived afair but soon after the band folded, the original line up of The Above reformed in mid 1981.
However, musical differences between the band members soon set in and drummer Mick and vocalist Keith went off to form another band. Lead guitarist John then went off to get married leaving myself and bassist Chris to recruit new members. These were found in the shape of Vanessa (Nessie) Firmin - vocals, Martin Hanrahan - lead guitar, and Warren Lancaster - drums.
With Chris's workmate, Mick King, acting as manager gigs soon began to roll in. With a set of original songs the new lineup of The Above gigged extensivley throughout 1982 and into the early part of 1983 when Chris and Nessie left to be replaced for a short time by Linda Sulley - vocals, and Clarke Taylor - bass.
The band eventually ground to a halt with the various members all puling in different musical and social directions.
Left to my own devices I continued writing songs and recorded my first 3 song demo tape in 1984 with the help of Martin Hanrahan - guitar, Terry Cahill - bass, and Chris Hyams - drums.
Various attempts at putting a new band together followed until the eventual formation of The Russians in 1986.
With Frazer Sheppard on lead guitar, Howard Tomlinson on bass, Ian Hardman on drums, and myself on guitar and vocals, The Russians took to the road armed with a set of my songs.
The lead guitar position proved a problem as Frazer left to persue his career in television journalism soon after the band had recorded a highly regarded demo tape showcasing three of my songs, 'Anymore', Right Now', and 'My Own Advice'. He was replaced by Roy Speakman who's first gig with the band turned out to be a prestigious appearance at the 100 Club on London's Oxford Street. However, Roy could not provide the committment felt by the other band members and he left the band.
The Russians went into semi-retirement, playing the odd gig here and there as a three-piece. Booked to play at Leyland Festival as a three piece we were surprised to see our old mate Frazer in the audience, complete with guitar and amp. A revised set list was hastily drawn up and we played the most memorable gig of our time together.
As The Russians went into hibernation I found myself in the world of working mens clubs (circa 1990)having been asked to join the three piece 60s cabaret outfit, Transfer, along with John Watkins - lead guitar, and Rick Lewis - bass and vocals. Percussion duties were handled by Rick's trusty drum machine.
Gigs were plentiful and the money wasn't bad. Rick eventually left and was replaced by Colin Murray and the band changed its name to Backtrack. After dumping the drum machine in favour of pre-recorded drum tracks we eventually took the plunge and recruited a real drummer in the form of Trevor Boggis. Once again, gigs were plentiful and the band changed musical direction towards a more contemporary sound and even changed its name to...wait for it...OASIS!!!
However, my heart was not really in playing songs by the likes of REO Speedwagon and I decided to leave the band.
A phone call from my good mate and bassist, Michael 'Humphrey' Langley led to the formation of The Ribblebeats for a Saturday night residency at The Tickled Trout Hotel in Preston. After just one gig keyboard player Justin Crowe left and was replaced by none other than guitarist John Watkins who was at a loose end after Oasis had finally dried up. Shortly after, drummer Mick Commons (from the original line up of The Above) left and was replaced by....Trevor Boggis (the music business is very incestuous!).
The Ribblebeats, in effect, had become Backtrack/Oasis with a different bass player!

When The Ribblebeats folded around 1995 I was in the right place at the right time to be asked to be involved in the new rock'n'roll band, Running Hot, along with Allan Christy - bass & vocals, Mick Campbell - lead guitar, and Rick Byers - drums. We certainly new how to put on a show, replete in our colourful Teddy Boy suits (don't you dare mention Showaddywaddy!) but after 3 years internal differences eventually split the band.
I wasn't out of work for long though after receiving a call from the established covers band, ALIBI. The original bass player left soon after I joined (must have been something I sang!) and the resultant lineup of Steve Wignall - lead guitar, Howard Facey - drums, Dave Grady - bass & vocals, plus myself, has been together now for over 8 years.
Somwehere in the middle of this period I also managed to found, edit and publish Muso-Nooz magazine, play the more than occasional gig as Double Trouble with the diva from Wigan, Jan Hough, and also record several albums of original songs (see Recorded Works)

Muso-Nooz (later known simply as Muso) was a magazine devoted to publicising the local music scene in and around Preston, Lancashire, England.
Co-founded by myself and Dave 'Wuff' Hardman, the magazine ran successfully for 7 years before the sadly floundering music scene in Preston and other committments finally forced me to cease publication.
Muso is still fondly remembered by many music fans in Preston and, I'm told, is sadly missed.

In 1990 I released my first full album of original songs, 'Two Minds'. The album, released on cassette tape on the Homemade Records label, was recorded in collaboration with John Watkins under the banner of 'Mr Smith', and also featured performances by Geoff Fisher (bass) and Nicki Ford (violin). It also featured the three recordings made by The Russians a couple of years earlier.
In 1993 I ventured into Pete Knight's Assembly Line Studios armed with just my accoustic guitar and recorded a bunch of songs 'live' in the studio. The results were released, again on tape, under the title 'Fragile World'.
Having purchased an 8 track port-studio, my next project, 'Passport' was a more produced affair with me playing all the instruments (except bass on one song) and this was released in 2000 on both tape and CD.
It took several years to record the next album. 'Abbey Grove' named after the street in Adlington where I lived as a child, was written played, sung, produced and engineered entirely by myself, and I must say I'm very proud of it - my 'Sgt Pepper' you might say! Apologies to The Beatles for the front cover (courtesy of Alison Fiddler) but it just had to be done!
A new CD, entitled 'Unfinished Business' is now complete and available from February 2008, featuring 13 original songs recorded with my mate John Watkins. Please contact me if you would like a copy - price £5.

You can find me every Tuesday night at The Mill Tavern pub in Higher Walton just outside of Preston, where I host a 'Singers' Night'. I start the evening off and then anybody who wants to get up and sing and play is welcome to do so. All types of music and all standards from beginners to professionals are welcome. A P.A. system is provided and you can always borrow my guitar.
On the first Wednesday of every month I host a similar evening at The New Britannia pub on Heatley Street in Preston. On the other Wednesdays of the month this evening is hosted by my good friend Sean Keefe.
Most Saturdays and the odd Friday I'm out playing with my band, ALIBI. If you see the name advertised in your local gig guide do pop along - a splendid time is guaranteed for all.