We are beyond thrilled to announce the addition of Florida based singer-songwriter and guitarist Don Mularz to the PeacockSunrise family for future releases including his upcoming solo album Florida Street, release date forthcoming.
In a statement from Don, “My first contact with Nick Katona of Melodic Revolution/PeacockSunrise Records was when he stumbled on Dark Horse Flyer’s first album, “Breakaway” and declared it the best classic rock album in 30 years! What’s not to love about that? Since then he’s been a tireless supporter of the music both on air and in person. I don’t think my first solo album could find a better home than PeacockSunrise Records and I’m truly stoked to be joining the Melodic Revolution/Peacock Sunrise family of artists.”
About Don Mularz Don is Dark Horse Flyer’s primary songwriter and singer, and an integral part of the band’s three-guitar frontline. His work as a composer and a guitarist combines the earthiness of blues and rock n’ roll with an accent of jazz sophistication and the slinkiness of Latin-based rhythms.
For Don music is all about that direct emotional connection with the listener. “A song doesn’t have to be strictly autobiographical, but it either needs to be perceived to be so, or, even better perhaps, strike a chord in the listener who recognizes their own story in it,” he says. “That’s what makes a song valid.”
Don further states, “As passionate and proud as I am of Dark Horse Flyer’s albums Breakaway and Hotel Paradise, they only tell half the story. When the Pandemic put the brakes on the next DHF album, “Tao Of Blues”, I took a long look back at all the acoustic guitar driven music I’ve created over the years and felt it was past time to give that work it’s due. (or past time to tell the rest of my story) With these ten songs on Florida Street, I get to flex my acoustic guitar muscles and play all the instruments with just a few guest appearances by some of the DHF family. Hopefully the result is as “acoustifying” as I intended!”
Discography Don Mularz – Florida Street (2023) PeacockSunrise Records – CD, LP, & Digital Don Mularz – Buddha On My Christmas Tree – Spirit of December 7 – Songs of Peace Love & Hope (2017) Melodic Revolution Records – Digital Troubleshooting Pandora’s Box – Soldier’s Song – featuring Dark Horse Flyer (2022) Digital Dark Horse Flyer – Hotel Paradise (2016) Florida Street Records – CD, LP, & Digital Dark Horse Flyer – Breakaway (2015) Florida Street Records – CD, LP, & Digital Split Decision – Radio Hearts (1992) Blue Water Records – Cassette, CD, & Digital Split Decision – Borderline & Mission Blues (1992) Blue Water Records – 7″ single
Hi to all! As we enter the new year, I’d like to express my appreciation to you—my friends, fans, and supporters—for our big year in 2022. My debut album, Delta Tales, continued to do well throughout the year. The single, Free Will in China Blue (intended initially as a digital bonus track for Delta Tales) did so well that the record company released a second, enhanced version of the CD to accommodate it.
The big news in 2022 was that we released the album Signs & Wonders in October. In this brief time, it has been graced with love from fans and garnered massive critical acclaim in the media. To celebrate its impending release, we staged a fabulous launch party in my hometown of New Castle, PA. Ace and I discussed the songs in front of friends and supporters.
The new single, No. 6 Magnolia Avenue, has been doing well. Our two videos, directed by Dante Ludovici, for the songs Free Will In China Blue and No. 6 Magnolia Avenue, have been honored with multiple nominations and awards from film festivals around the world.
Digital streaming of SKR is getting stronger and stronger. SKR songs have more than one million total streams across platforms, with most (approximately 940,000) on Spotify. This has all been made possible by you!
The coming year promises to be one of progress for SKR. We will be promoting Signs & Wonders heavily. We are planning live performances of various types. We are developing a music video for the next single, One More Story to Tell. Of course, I am also busy writing new songs for a future SKR release. My SKR team is a devoted, hard-working lot who encourage me to continue making music we hope the fans will love.
Signs & Wonders encapsulates much of the reason why critics are so impressed with Sun King Rising’s career (myself included). He isn’t a one-trick pony, but essentially as much of a renaissance man as the indie rock community can hope to celebrate in an era as tumultuous as the present. FULL REVIEW
When consumed in its entirety (as was mandated by the man behind the music himself), all of the songs comprising this album form a patchwork of personal statements and commentarial poetry you would never find anywhere else in the world. FULL REVIEW.
There’s something new to discover with every listen the blanket of melodies and poetic revelations in Signs & Wondersis granted, and while I’m usually not the biggest fan of concept albums because of the camp and excess they frequently contain, this is a solid offering that doesn’t have any room for such nonsense in its material…FULL REVIEW
I don’t believe there’s going to be a single critic who hears this record and says SKR isn’t deserving of endless praise for the originality of the piece in general. He couldn’t have made Signs & Wonders any more insular and intimate yet still accessible to us, and that earns him a lot of respect in my book. FULL REVIEW.
With Spotify streams of his 2020 debut album, “Delta Tales” approaching 800K, and youtube views of his award-winning “Free Will in China Blue” video approaching 40K, Blangero looks to continue the momentum with his new album. FULL REVIEW.
He wants us to get a taste of the passion he’s sewing into this material on all fronts, starting of course with the actual presence of the music when it’s played at a moderate volume on a good pair of speakers (headphone speakers to be precise, as the liner notes recommend), and that just isn’t true of the many artists who would seek to dethrone him from his perch in the hierarchy of underground heavyweights this fall. FULL REVIEW.
Based on the Hit Single of the Same Title from His New Album, Signs & Wonders.
Produced and directed by Dante Ludovici, No. 6 Magnolia Avenue is a literal film interpretation of the song’s optimistic, uplifting lyric. It is the story of an unknown, down-and-out musician who attains acclaim and stardom after encountering the beautiful “Girl in China Blue” at a bar gig.
Ludovici’s production ably captures all the emotion, pathos, and humor inherent in the recording. Many of the artist’s New Castle, Pennsylvania friends and family form the colorful cast of characters.
Sun King Rising is the musical moniker and alter-ego of John Blangero, who lives in Port Isabel, Texas. By night, Blangero is Sun King Rising. By day, he is a world-renowned genetic research scientist and professor at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.
Meghan Greenwood, a popular Pittsburgh choreographer/dancer, plays his love interest in the film. Ludovici also featured her in his first Sun King Rising film production, “Free Will in China Blue.” She has retained her “girl in China Blue” identity in the second production.
In addition to the mostly local Newcastle cast, Ludovici also utilizes multiple Newcastle and nearby Poland, Ohio locations to significant effect.
Blangero wrote the song, and producer Ace Acker completed it with a who’s who lineup of Pittsburgh players and singers at David Granati’s Maplewood Studio in Ambridge, PA. Granati engineered Sun King Rising’s first album, Delta Tales. as well.
Fans can enjoy the video here on the special Sun King Rising will webpage
Sun King Rising will give away a free Signs & Wonders CD to the first 50 viewers who subscribe to the Sun King Rising blog “The Lowdown“
Signs & Wonders Sessions John Blangero – Piano, Keys, Lead Vocals, Orchestral Arrangements George Perilli – Drums on all tracks except 4 and 10 Roger Humphreys – Drums 4 George Elliott – Bass Guitar on all tracks Willie Ross – Guitar 1 2,3 4.5,8 Steve Schuffert – Guitar 6,7 8 9 Ace Acker – Acoustic Guitar 3 Fred Delu – Electric Piano 4 Background Vocal Arrangements by Stevee Wellons and Ace Acker
Background Singers: Stevee Wellons – All tracks but 10 Joy Brown – 1,3,4,5,7,8, Bernice Wilkerson – 1,3,4,5,7,8 Pete Hewlett – 6,9 Ace – 2,6,9 Raloh Guzzi – Horn Arrangements Ralph Guzzi, Eric Defade, Kevin McManus – Horn Section Kennv Blake – Saxophone 4
Studio Credits Engineered by David Granati Recorded at Maplewood Studio, Ambridge, PA Mixed and Mastered by Brian Foraker Produced by Ace Acker
Album Art Clint English – CD Catalog No. PSR-1-008
October 1st, 2022
Sun King Rising’s long-awaited second album, Signs & Wonders, has been released today on PeacockSunrise Records. “We are thrilled to represent such an astounding artist and album,” says label head, Nick Katona. A year in the making, the 10-song album is now available on all popular formats: CD, Digital, Streaming, and coming on vinyl.
PeacockSunrise Records is the Americana/Rock label spinoff of Nick Katona’s successful Progressive Rock label, Melodic Revolution.
Sun King Rising is the professional moniker of singer/songwriter/piano player John Blangero who hails from Port Isabel, Texas. He calls his music “the new wave of southern rock and soul music.” As with Sun King Rising’s highly acclaimed debut album, Delta Tales, Pittsburgh’s Ace Acker again served as producer.
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Blangero’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Risings.
The album’s first single, “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue,” is a classic 60s/70s horn band pop in the vein of Chicago, Spiral Staircase, and Blood. The official release of Dante Ludovici’s cinematic short film of the same title is to be released in the coming weeks. Ludovici directed the official “Free Will in China Blue” video from the first album, as well.
ListenNow!
Signs & Wonders Sessions John Blangero – Piano, Keys, Lead Vocals, Orchestral Arrangements George Perilli – Drums on all tracks except 4 and 10 Roger Humphreys – Drums 4 George Elliott – Bass Guitar on all tracks Willie Ross – Guitar 1 2,3 4.5,8 Steve Schuffert – Guitar 6,7 8 9 Ace Acker – Acoustic Guitar 3 Fred Delu – Electric Piano 4 Background Vocal Arrangements by Stevee Wellons and Ace Acker
Background Singers: Stevee Wellons – All tracks but 10 Joy Brown – 1,3,4,5,7,8, Bernice Wilkerson – 1,3,4,5,7,8 Pete Hewlett – 6,9 Ace – 2,6,9 Raloh Guzzi – Horn Arrangements Ralph Guzzi, Eric Defade, Kevin McManus – Horn Section Kennv Blake – Saxophone 4
Studio Credits Engineered by David Granati Recorded at Maplewood Studio, Ambridge, PA Mixed and Mastered by Brian Foraker Produced by Ace Acker
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Sun King Rising’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Rising.
Blangero’s music draws from his southern family roots, the literary genius of William Faulkner, the bluesy compositional brilliance of George Gershwin, the blue-eyed soul of Elton John, and the funky rhythms and horns of the 60s-70s Muscle Shoals. Soaring electric guitars add spice to this gumbo. It is a unique fusion of innate design with heartfelt musical expression— “the Genetics of Soul.”
“With this album, Sun King Rising has made a quantum leap,” says Katona. “Musically and lyrically, Signs & Wonders rocks hard while engaging the imagination. It is thematically coherent, complex, and sophisticated.”
Blangero attributes this to the vastly improved circumstances under which Acker was able to produce it. “We started recording the first album in January 2020. Two months later, the COVID-19 pandemic locked the whole world down,” he says.
Coping with resulting restrictions on travel and meetings forced Blangero and Acker to complete the production remotely, with thirty-two different players and singers recording in multiple studios across the country. Says Blangero, “It was a logistical challenge, to say the least.”
With Signs & Wonders, the production team had no such hurdles. Recording again at Pittsburgh’s Maplewood Studio with engineer David Granati at the helm, Acker put together a full 5-piece band, a horn section, and a background chorus with the city’s most acclaimed talents. “Most of the cuts on the album we recorded live at Maplewood, with the same band,” Acker explained, “resulting in a far more consistent sound. The logistics were a breeze.”
PeacockSunrise Records, CD Catalog No. PSR-1-008
Tracklist
1. Bitter Waters Sweetened 04:20 2. No. 6 Magnolia Avenue 04:11 3. Lanterns On The Levee 03:58 4. Buried In The Blues Again 03:56 5. Jubal Takes A Wife 04:29 6. She Was A Blonde 04:56 7. One More Story To Tell 03:24 8. Low Wine And Cruel Ruin 04:39 9. Anchorless 05:48 10. Alabama Nocturne 03:01
Signs & Wonders Sessions
John Blangero – Piano, Keys, Lead Vocals, Orchestral Arrangements George Perilli – Drums on all tracks except 4 and 10 Roger Humphreys – Drums 4 George Elliott – Bass Guitar on all tracks Willie Ross – Guitar 1 2,3 4.5,8 Steve Schuffert – Guitar 6,7 8 9 Ace Acker – Acoustic Guitar 3 Fred Delu – Electric Piano 4 Background Vocal Arrangements by Stevee Wellons and Ace Acker Background Singers: Stevee Wellons – All tracks but 10 Joy Brown – 1,3,4,5,7,8, Bernice Wilkerson – 1,3,4,5,7,8 Pete Hewlett – 6,9 Ace – 2,6,9 Raloh Guzzi – Horn Arrangements Ralph Guzzi, Eric Defade, Kevin McManus – Horn Section Kennv Blake – Saxophone 4
Engineered by David Granati Recorded at Maplewood Studio, Ambridge, PA Mixed and Mastered by Brian Foraker Produced by Ace Acker Album Art by Clint English
Pre-orders for the long-awaited 2nd album Signs & Wonders pre-order options.
Digital Pre-order Special – $ 10 CD Pre-order Special No. 1 – Signs & Wonders for $12 CD Pre-order Special No. 2 – Signs & Wonders plus Delta Tales for $20
Pre-order only offer… purchase the new album Signs and Wonder and get the first single “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue” now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app, and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
Digital album releases September 30, 2022 CD ship out on or around September 15, 2022
There is greatness within, and anyone who enjoys Americana-style rock cannot afford to miss out on what is a true classic of the genre…Music rarely gets better than this. —Kev Rowland, ReZonatZ
PeacockSunrise Records is thrilled to announce Sun King Rising’s second album, Signs & Wonders is to be released on October 1, 2022, the album will be available on all popular formats: CD, Vinyl, Digital, and Streaming.
Sun King Rising is the professional moniker of singer/songwriter/piano player John Blangero who hails from Port Isabel, Texas.
He calls his music “the new wave of southern rock and soul music.”
PeacockSunrise Records is the Americana/Rock label spinoff of Nick Katona’s successful Progressive Rock label, Melodic Revolution. Like Sun King Rising’s highly acclaimed debut album, Delta Tales, Pittsburgh’s Ace Acker served as producer.
Save for Queen’s Brian May, Blangero is perhaps incomparable in all the world. Like May—Queen’s guitarist—Blangero is not only a brilliant, entirely original musical artist but also a world-renowned scientist (May is an astrophysicist) specializing in genetics research.
Blangero’s music draws from his own southern family roots, the literary genius of William Faulkner, the bluesy compositional brilliance of George Gershwin, the blue-eyed soul of Elton John, and the funky rhythms and horns of the 60s-70s Muscle Shoals. Soaring electric guitars add spice to this gumbo. It is a unique fusion of innate design with heartfelt musical expression— “the Genetics of Soul.”
“With this album, Sun King Rising has made a quantum leap,” says Katona. “Musically and lyrically, Signs & Wonders rocks hard while engaging the imagination. It is thematically coherent, complex, and sophisticated.”
Blangero attributes this to the vastly improved circumstances under which Acker was able to produce it. “We started recording the first album in January 2020. Two months later, the COVID-19 pandemic locked the whole world down,” he says.
Coping with resulting restrictions on travel and meetings forced Blangero and Acker to complete the production remotely, with thirty-two different players and singers recording in multiple studios across the country. Says Blangero, “It was a logistical challenge, to say the least.”
With Signs & Wonders, the production team had no such hurdles. Recording again at Pittsburgh’s Maplewood Studio with engineer David Granati at the helm, Acker put together a full 5-piece band, a horn section, and a background chorus with the city’s most acclaimed talents. “Most of the cuts on the album we recorded live at Maplewood, with the same band,” Acker explained, “resulting in a far more consistent sound. The logistics were a breeze.”
Signs & Wonder is a collection of Blangero’s southern noir stories set to music, with a cast of colorful characters, intrigue, tales of sin and redemption, murder without justice, and love without limits. Had William Faulkner and Tennessee Williams been lyricists, they might have written deeply nuanced musical stories like Sun King Risings.
The album’s first single, “No. 6 Magnolia Avenue,” is classic 60s/70s horn band pop in the vein of Chicago, Spiral Staircase, and Blood,
Concurrent with the single’s release, PeacockSunrise will debut its cinematic music video directed by Dante Ludovici, the man behind the cameras for the official “Free Will in China Blue” video from the first album.
Steve Bonino returns with his third album Pandora and the first new Steve Bonino Project releases in three years. This is not a follow-up to the highly acclaimed album Stargazer 2, in fact, Stargazer 3 is still in the works at this very moment.
The new Album “Pandora” is a concept album, the creation of this album was inspired by Nick Katona, Owner of Melodic Revolution Records says, Steve Bonino.
The opening track Eva Prima Pandora was released as a single for the Troubleshooting Pandora’s Box series on January 14th, 2022 which was inspired by the mythology of a painting by Jean Cousin dated 1550.
The author creates a curious symbiosis between a painting with a mythological theme and a painting with a religious theme. The work is identified by a poster that relates the mythological character of Pandora, the first woman and the origin of the evils of the human race according to Greek mythology, with the biblical Eve, also a participant in the fall of the human race into sin.
In the painting are the symbols of the skull, alluding to the death related to the protagonist, the serpent entangled in the left arm, which recalls the biblical story of the serpent’s deception of Eve in Paradise, the branch of the apple tree reminiscent of the forbidden fruit and the jug that points to Pandora’s box from which the evils of humanity emerged.
Since early Christian art was developed, the Greek myth was related to the biblical account of Genesis as both women, Eva and Pandora, symbols of curiosity and responsibility in the fall of the human being.
Pandora Tracklisting 1. Eva Prima Pandora 04:48 2. The Three Fates 03:44 3. Where Did Evil Come From 04:32 4. My Name Is Pandora (featuring Shimmer Johnson) 03:30 5. The Pipes Of Pan 02:43 6. To Pandora 04:38 7. Origin Story 04:02 8. Do You Believe 03:43 9. Mythos 01:53 10. Lucky Day 02:55 11. Of Gods And Men 03:10
Steve Bonino: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, and Drum Programming Shimmer Johnson: Vocals (Track 4) Erik Johnson: Guitar (Track 8) C.C. White (East/West Voices of Soul) Femail Vocals (Tracks 1, 3, 7, 8, & 11)
Released June 17, 2022, via Melodic Revolution Records
All orders of the new album “Shiny Side Up” featuring eleven brilliantly crafted new instrumental tracks by Gayle Ellett & The Electromags are available for a special low price during the pre-sale, as a bonus, all CD pre-orders come with a special gift and a digital sampler download card of various artist.
Gayle Ellett & The Electromags is an exciting new 3-piece rock band. featuring Gayle Ellett (Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Hammond B-3 Organ, Rhodes Electric Piano) Craig Kahn (Drums & Percussion), and Mark Cook (Bass), Gayle Ellett & The Electromags is Instrumental hard-rocking guitar music with a 1970’s vibe.
Shiny Side Up Tracklist
1. No Deposit, No Return 06:15 2. Highway 27 04:14 3. The Old Canyon Road 05:26 4. Southern Slide 04:48 5. Hardtailed Knucklehead 05:45 6. Donuts & Fishtails 05:18 7. Beyond The Milky Way 01:22 8. Brass Saddles & Steel Trees 02:36 9. Three Way Switch 05:31 10. Crash Bar 05:26 11. Trail Dust 05:10
All music was composed and produced by Gayle Ellett Album art by Matt Mahurin Recorded in Topanga, California, and Arlington, Texas
In order to maintain a more lively and dynamic sound, no compression was used in the mixing of this album.
The artwork on the album is by the award-winning artist Matt Mahurin, who has created numerous album covers for groups like Peter Gabriel, U2, Metallica, R.E.M., Tom Waits, Muse, T-Bone Burnett, Soundgarden, Motley Crew, Def Leppard, Scorpions, Joe Satriani, Cher, and many others. And he has also illustrated the cover of TIME Magazine more than 40 times.
East Coast DJ Tom Gagliardi had this to say about the album, “Gayle Ellett & The Electromags have embarked on an eleven-track instrumental journey of old school atmospheres that include a truly analog sound so good….you can smell the ozone charge from those beloved tube amplifiers.”
Band Bio:
Gayle Ellett (Guitar & Keyboards), Gayle has been playing guitar for more than 45 years, he started playing back in 1973. He is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed on over 120 albums, scored music for numerous feature films and 60 different TV series worldwide, and currently plays in 9 bands. One of these bands is Djam Karet, a Progressive Rock group formed in the 1980s that has released 20 albums so far. When he’s not busy recording in the studio, he can often be found wandering the mountain trails near his home in Topanga, California. www.GayleEllett.com
Craig Kahn (Drums), Besides playing in The Electromags, Craig is recording drums for the next Kelp Dwellers album, a Surf band he is in with Gayle Ellett and their friend Todd Montgomery (Fernwood). Craig is also involved with a band consisting mostly of pediatric cardiology doctors from around the world, the BBSC, who donate all proceeds from album sales to pediatric health care. Craig spends his free time running in the mountains surrounding his home in Topanga, California.
Mark Cook (Bass), Mark is a multi-instrumentalist based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He has recorded and performed with the progressive rock bands Herd of Instinct and Spoke of Shadows, the psychedelic crew Liquid Sound Company, and the art-pop/downtempo unit Nocturne Blue. When not chained to the recording console, Mark spends time wrangling his dogs.
Who is Gayle Ellett & The Electromags?
Ellett, says “I formed this group because of my great love for guitars and the joy I get from playing guitar. I wanted to focus on the style that was popular back in my teenage years: the 1970s. I wanted to spend more time writing melodies and stretching out as a player, pushing myself to improve as a composer and producer, trying my hardest to capture the best tones possible. And luckily, I’m working with Craig Kahn and Mark Cook, who are a great fit for this group. They are super talented, highly motivated, and really easy to work with. Craig is a really talented and aggressive drummer, and Mark is an amazingly creative bass player. Making this album with them has been really fun!”
Located high in the mountains of Topanga, California, this new group is focused on creating instrumental hard- rocking guitar music with a 1970’s vibe. Utilizing a collection of 10 electric guitars and 5 vintage tube amps, their music has a traditional yet modern sound. Except for the occasional wah-wah or phaser, no guitar pedals were used in the creation of this music. Just great guitars plugged straight into classic tube amps … and turned up unbearably loud!
“My #1 goal was to make an album that featured me wailing lots of guitar solos and playing memorable melodies,” adds Ellett. “My other goal was to write really interesting and enjoyable music, surrounding those solos with lots of cool and evolving changes.” He goes on to explain “I’m not trying to re-create the sounds of the ’70s, but I am very inspired by the music of that era. , I started playing electric guitar back in 1973, and albums like Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow and other Classic Rock records have greatly shaped my tastes in music. That’s why I play in phrases, it’s an older style that was popular back then. I’ve never written Rock songs before, and I’ve never made a ‘Gayle Plays Guitar Solos’ album, so all of this is new to me. And so far, I am really happy with the results!”
The band gets its name from the electromagnetic pickups that are present on all electric guitars. These electromags capture the guitar’s sound and transmit it down a wire to the amplifier. Unique to electric guitars, they are not found on other instruments.
The album’s title “Shiny Side Up” is from the common saying among motorcyclists “Keep the shiny side up!” which means “Have fun riding and don’t crash!”
Master musician Mike Keneally (who has toured the world with Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani) said of this music “Once again, what a journey! Gorgeous playing and it takes me to places I didn’t expect at the top of the song – appreciate your willingness to wantonly change tempo as you see fit super fun! Yeah, Gayle!”
Currently, the band is finishing up a 5-song digital EP (due to be released next year). And they are also busy recording music for a 2nd full-length album, tentatively titled “Friends”, which will feature many guest musicians from around the world.
Melodic Revolution Records recording artist singer-songwriter Andy John Bradford to release his upcoming album The Visit on PeacockSunrise Records in late 2022, the latest single The Gold Watch will be released in mid-May via all digital services and retailers, more news coming soon.
Bio
Andy John Bradford is an award-winning singer/songwriter and an actor from the North East in England. Born in 1964 in Middlesbrough, as it turns out on the very same street as the legendary Chris Rea his family moved around a lot around the country as his father was a captain in the Church Army. His father left the Church Army and they moved to Nottingham when his dad trained to become a teacher whilst at the same time working as a milkman in order to keep a roof over his families head. After qualifying as a teacher the family once again moved, this time to the West Yorkshire town of Bradford. At this point, it was 1972 and was to be the home where the family finally settled and Andy grew up. It was Bradford where his appreciation for music came about also. His father was a big music fan, though more on the classical side and jazz it was the start of the 70s and a new style of music was about to fill Andy’s ears. Glam Rock was born and he found Rock music.
In 1974 Andy started at Daisy Hill Middle School and it was here where he found an interest in Guitar, thanks to his main mentor at this point Mr. Mac. A teacher at the school and a folk singer when he wasn’t at school. He taught Andy and his best friend who funny enough was also called Andy how to play the guitar. Andy took to this instrument quite well, enough for his mum to take the plunge and buy a more expensive guitar. The year was 1976 and the guitar was a Jumbo EKO Ranger steel-string folk guitar. It had a beautiful tone and Andy started to experiment with it and come up with his own tunes with it. It was here where he started to write his own music and his first song which turned out to be terrible was born. Called “Where is she”, it soon made the order of the scrap heap. However that same year after a boatload of dross, a real song came out of it named “Sitting Ducks” This was actually quite good and was put forward to the Schools songwriting competition where it won Andy a Songwriting merit award. Andy continued to write right through school and after leaving school sadly put the guitar down for a while as real life stepped in. However, the writing bug remained but it wasn’t until the late 80s that it started to take over again. By 1996, Andy had written quite a few and with help from his new songwriting partner Martin Dawson, they managed to record an album. The Album named “The Sentinel” was a take on the ever-changing landscape of the Yorkshire they had both grown up in and managed to get them a Folk Award for Best Local Album. That same year they appeared at the Whitby Folk Festival and the song Hero, which was written a year before won Andy Best Folk Song. As a duo, the pair also got the award for the best liver-stage act under the name of “Highway” 4 years on the trot on the Northern Club Circuit… Each time they won they won a carriage clock and each clock had their name stamped on brass on the back of the clock and each clock had the name of the pair spelled wrong in 4 different ways!!!
2001 After moving again, this time to Northern Ireland, Andy continued to write and perform as a solo artist around the Northern Irish Circuit and in this time he wrote the award-winning song “Northern Rose” Dedicated to his new bride Donna, and the song “When Hearts are Broken” and the heartbreaking song “Daddy’s Girl” dedicated to his daughter to his first marriage who now is very much once again a big part of his life. In 2011 Andy started talking with other musicians around the world and got together an array of really fine talent including the late Colin Tench (In Sweden), Marco Chiapini in Italy, Stef Flaming (In Belgium), Victor Tassone (In New York) and Andres Guitzalli (In Argentina) Together they formed the international collaboration, Andy John Bradford’s Oceans 5. They started to write and produce a new album where different styles attempted to blend, Andy being a folk musician and Colin being a Prog musician the rest having their own very unique styles but all working very well to produce an album which grew into “The Return To Mingulay” giving the band a good following around the world and world critical acclaim, placing the album amongst some as one of the most important albums ever written. An achievement that did not make any of the big egos in the band gets even more big-headed at all.
Sadly after the passing of Colin Tench, the rest of the band lost a bit of the heart and nothing else was written, however, they are all still talking together and new members are reputed to have been brought in to make a new supergroup. All that can be said at this point is “Watch this space” As a solo artist, Andy is still writing and his new single “The Gold Watch” A view once again on the changing view of the landscape through another person’s eyes, this time through the eyes of a road sweep. This is one of the songs that are going onto the new album “The Visit” set for release at the end of the year. It’s an album taking another look at old songs that Andy has written over the years, including some of those ones that never even got heard. He’ll be putting new life back into them and will also be revisiting an old Christmas song which will have a new feel to it and an addition of a choir. Bother Single and future releases are set to be released on Peacock Sunrise Records. Watch
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