BIOGRAPHY | FACTFILE

ANDREW George Morley was born to parents Pat and Ian on April 23, 1980.
From an early age he showed a keen interest in music and a wide variety of styles, mainly due to the influence of his father. He spent hours singing with him as they listened to his record collection.

In fact Andrew’s first concert hall and recording studio was his front room, where at the tender age of just four he cut his first demo - on a home tape recorder. It included songs such as Maybe Baby and his school favourite, Hay Ho Skip To Ma Loo.

One of his first public performances saw him win a talent show, with the Buddy Holly song Valley Of Tears, at Sheffield’s Whitehill Junior School.

At the age of 16, armed with a Spanish guitar, given to him by his Uncle Malcolm, a Burt Weedon Play In A Day instruction book and a passion to become the next Jimi Hendrix, he began to pursue a musical dream

Andrew recalls: “Dad had played the guitar from the age of 18 and he had already taught my older brother, Kevin. One night they were jamming on the settee and told them I also wanted to play the guitar. They told me to be patient - that I wouldn’t Jimi Hendrix in a day.

“Dad taught me the basic chords, by drawing diagrams and going through them with me. Burt Weedon’s Play In A Day really was a great help.

“I practiced for hours at a time, going over and over the chords, then tunes until I got them right.’’
It became clear to his proud dad that Andrew had a natural ear and ability.
He rewarded him for his perseverance with the greatest present of all on Christmas Day 1996 - a Candy Apple Red Fender Stratocaster.

Ian helped to develop his son’s talent by taking him to watch other guitarists at local open microphone nights and jamming sessions. Andrew remembers he couldn’t take his eyes off the guitarists’ fingers.

Then came his turn, when he began to perform at these venues. His very first public performance as a guitarist was at the Castle Inn, in Bolsterstone, near Sheffield.

Andrew also benifited greatly from watching his dad’s Buddy Holly tribute band, Hollydayz.
Having started out as a roadie with the band, he became the band’s lead guitarist - a role he still enjoys. He has played with Hollydayz at venues including Sheffield City Hall and Buxton Opera House.

Andrew still loves playing with Hollydayz, but he also wanted his own identity.
He felt pigeonholed after performing songs from his upbringing at local jam nights, but contemporary pop songs did not appeal to his style. So he began to experiment with song writing, to create a style to suit his own unique voice, incorporating all of his musical influences.

Aged 19, he performed his first self-penned song, In This World, at the Effingham Arms, Kimberworth, Rotherham.
It was to be a defining moment in his life.
The rapturous applause he received gave him the confidence to pursue his writing. It unlocked a world that he himself did not know existed inside him.

More live performances followed over the next two years as he began to build a loyal fan base of supporters, who started to ask how they could get hold of his music.

It led to his self-funded first album, Best Kept Secret, which he recorded at the Sight and Sound studios at Bolton on Dearne, near Barnsley, in 2002. It was released the following January and was a local success and is still selling well today.

Mr Lonely, a track on the album, got him his first airplay on radio - it featured between hits by R Kelly and Robbie Williams, on Andrew’s local station, Dearne FM. He is also grateful for the support shown to him by Jimmy Carol and Toby Foster, who have subsequently featured him on their BBC Radio Sheffield shows.

The next major influence on his career was befriending Boy On A Dolphin and Acoustic Angels frontman, John Rielly.
He has become a great ambassador of Andrew’s music and allowed him to support the Acoustic Angels on numerous occasions.

Andrew is quick to admit he has learned a lot from John and he was a major influence in the next step that he would take. Andrew wanted to record again and John arranged for him to use the Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield.

In October 2004 the foundations of Andrew’s new body of work, called Tomorrow, began to take shape.
But even Andrew couldn’t have expected the next defining moment in his life - when Sheffield music icon Richard Hawley, the highly acclaimed Mercury Music Award nominee, heard his music and asked to play on the album!

Andrew said: “I had just finished laying down my demo of the song, Tomorrow. As I opened the door from the recording room into the control room, Richard was standing there. Before I’d fully entered the room he said the song was great. I thanked him and introduced myself. He had just popped in to the studio to see a friend, called Collin Elliott. We continued to chat and then I went back to record some more songs.

“As I returned to record the next track, Collin popped his head around the door smiling and said, ‘You’ll never believe this Andy, Rich thinks your songs are great and wants to record that track with you.’

“Then he popped his head around the door again and said, ‘ Andy - he doesn’t just want to record the track he wants to do the whole album with you!’

“I was ecstatic and just couldn’t believe it. In fact I probably looked like a Cheshire Cat because I just couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot from ear to ear.

“We finished the session that day and talked about the future recording with Richard and his band. Unfortunately I was starting a new job the day they could all do the session on the track, Tomorrow, so John Kindly went as my ears.

“I wouldn’t get to hear the results until a few weeks later, when John asked me down to a session he was doing at the Steelworks recording studios. We were chatting while they were having a break and John put the track on through the system, I was a bit slow off the mark because it took me at least a minute to realise that it was me. When I did though I was gob smacked.

Andrew completed the album in 2005 but was then set back a year through ill health.
He suffers from Crohns disease and had to go through major surgery for the second time in 2006. But it has made him more determined to succeed.

Andrew believes that a positive attitude leads to positive outcome in your life and everyone has their ups and downs.
While he was recuperating, he used the time on his hands to his advantage and he wrote around FORTY new songs in 2006 alone. Some of this new material was influenced by his circumstances, but the rest was pure escapism. He found song writing to be great therapy.

Unconditional Love was a song inspired by his time in hospital.
He was saved from the brink of death when he suffered a massive haemorrhage and had to be resuscitated.
For hours after the near tragic ordeal, he began to think about his parents and how no matter how bad things get and how low you may be, the love of your family is always unconditional.

Doctors had been alerted by a couple, Lynn and Stuart, who never left the side of their son, Gareth, who was in the hospital bed next to Andrew. It further inspired the song.

Andrew became stronger and even motivated after this. He more clearly understands that time is a precious gift and that it is not there to waste.

With this attitude he ventured back into the studio in August 2006 and recorded two new tracks, In Your Eyes and Three Little Words.

He is currently developing his promo CD and speaking to management companies. He is also planning his marketing campaign, and organising future live performances. Andrew is very busy in 2007 ,but at the age of 27, you can be sure the best is yet to come from this young man.

Watch this space!