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Andy Bandlord Bissell
The
2016 release of "Thinking Out Loud" by Andy Bandlord
Bissell is a collection of original songs in the,
straight ahead blues based rock vein. A collection
of 14 songs, 11 of which were penned over the last
year and 3 from earlier stages in his career which
have been reworked and rearranged. This project was
self financed and utilized family members and
friends who contributed their time to see this
musical venture come to life. Andy tends to write
about the daily issues that affect all of our lives
and many can relate to the indifference directed at
big business & government in general.
Andy started singing in bands at the age of 13 back
in the 1970's and had also dabbled with the family's
upright piano learning some standards as well as
piano theory. These bands were comprised of local
lads from the Corunna, Sarnia, Courtright area of
southwestern Ontario and played local schools and
bars, with a couple of them, namely, BANDLORD &
XCIX, gaining quite the collection of dedicated
followers.
1981 saw Andy moving to Toronto to pursue his music
career, singing in a few different bands over the
next couple of years and recording some demos. These
demos and a live performance in Brampton caught the
eye of an EMI Records rep, who wanted to get Andy
into the studio, without his band, to record with
studio musicians. Andy refused to abandon his
band-mates in favour of studio musicians, the
response was "You have a great powerful bluesy
voice, but it's the wrong style for the current
trend of New Wave music", and therefore recording
never happened.
Barely earning enough to sustain the necessities of
life, no actual address or proper income, Andy moved
back to Sarnia in 1984 to find a day job and put
music back to weekend hobby band status. With some
like minded musicians from the Wyoming and Petrolia
areas, a new band was formed and it was back to
playing the locale bar circuit for the next two
years.
In Oct. 1986 Andy had the opportunity to move with
his wife to Edmonton Alberta, for a secure well
paying job, and so it was. Music became a listening
hobby, but Andy took to writing poems. Over the
years his family grew and his children's musical
talents became apparent, singing, guitars,
keyboards, in fact his one son recorded 2 CD's with
a local Edmonton band in the early 2000's. Andy
started to feel restless and started to fool around
with an old Casio keyboard that sat in the basement,
it did cause a smile. Yet with his son playing Lead
Guitar and singing on CD's Andy decided to try his
hand at guitar and bought a nice new Strat. The
musical desire was starting to become stronger again
and needed an outlet.
in 2011 a new opportunity arose. A friend of his son
was recording a project and had heard a few of
Andy's old demo tapes, which caused him to ask Andy
to record some harmonies on a track for him. Andy
gladly accepted since he hadn't been inside a
recording studio nor belted out a tune for nearly 30
years! The session went so well Andy was asked to
sing Lead vocals and edit/rewrite/contribute lyrics
for the entire album (Tragedy In Hell by Enforcem -
relaesed 2012}. Now this awoke the beast that lay
dormant inside!
With only a few short years left at his day job to
ensure a pension, Andy started to think out
retirement plans and how music could once again be a
focus in his life. By the end of 2014 he had
purchased an Tascam 8 track studio recorder, an 88
key Korg Kross keyboard, studio microphones, cables,
stands and he practiced and wrote down ideas and
practiced that keyboard until it became familiar
again. The intent at the time was to revisit a bunch
of original tunes he had co-written in his heyday of
the late 70's and early 80's and get them on a CD,
but after listening to the numerous tapes from all
those years ago he realized how "dated" they
sounded. Inspiration arose, the issues of the mid
2010's came to mind, ideas flowed, so many up to
date thoughts. What was burning on Andy's mind these
last 3 decades? It wasn't boy meets girl, boy lost
girl, it was more mature ideas, a happily married
man for 30 years this line of thought didn't really
exist anymore. No, it was our greedy banking system,
our twisted insurance empires, our conniving
governments, corporate bullies, it gave so many
opportunities to write about today's concerns, and
so it began.
11 New songs written in just under a year, plus 3
songs from the past rearranged. One of these
retooled tunes entitled Another Drink wasn't as
dated as many, it dealt with a subject matter that
is endless, denial. It was brought down a bit from
the original 80's version, not quite as heavy and a
bit more melancholy. I Need To Smile, from 1983 was
about the benefits of collecting unemployment, but
has been updated to deal with the joy of retirement,
a short rockin' high energy tune. Lastly of the
three older tunes, Not For Me, an old school style
rock song, that was include because of the pressure
bestowed upon me by my children because they always
loved this song. I told them, it's dated, they
responded, it's classic you have to do it, so it has
been included and is true to the original version.
All the new songs are dealing with the
aforementioned banks, government, insurance
companies, big business, greed, with a poke at
modern Pop Stars, a stab at the daily work routine,
bad days, encouragement, and a wee bit of boy girl
stuff, only more grown up.
Album: Thinking Out Loud (2017)
Notes for the artist: This page will always be here under your name
in "Featured Artists" You can always send us an updated Bio using
'CONTACT' on Menu at the top of page.
# |
(PST) |
Name |
length |
Rating |
Notes |
1 |
9:00 |
Day After Day After Day |
04:36 |
4 |
|
2 |
9:04 |
Who'll Drop The Flag |
05:39 |
4 |
|
3 |
9:10 |
Another Drink |
06:03 |
4 |
|
4 |
9:16 |
Bad Mother Of A Day |
04:07 |
4 |
|
5 |
9:20 |
You Can't Save Me |
05:22 |
4 |
|
6 |
9:26 |
Madness |
03:53 |
4 |
|
7 |
9:30 |
I Don't Care |
06:14 |
4 |
|
8 |
9:36 |
Mock Star |
04:38 |
3 |
|
9 |
9:41 |
Just You And Me |
05:13 |
3 |
|
10 |
9:46 |
Both Ends |
05:01 |
4 |
|
11 |
9:51 |
Sad Down Blue |
04:49 |
3 |
|
12 |
9:56 |
Not For Me |
04:40 |
3 |
|
13 |
10:01 |
A Soldier's Duty |
05:52 |
3 |
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Bouncing
Betty
Bouncing
Betty is the living proof, that loud and dirty kickass Rock`n`Roll
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Notes for the artistt: This page will always be here under your name
in "Featured Artists". You can always send us an updated Bio using
'CONTACT' on Menu at the top of page..
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