Andy John Jones oozes soul with his Blues/Funk infused Soul Rock which has seen him winning the hearts of strangers as a busker on the streets of London. Learning his songwriting craft from working in McDonald’s, local pubs and as a labourer for local tradesman, by night Andy John Jones would hone his craft in the open mics and local boozers of his hometown Tamworth and home city Birmingham, UK.
His sound would become fully rounded by his move to London where, come sun or come snow, Andy spent twelve hour days busking the streets of Westminster building a growing and enthusiastic fanbase. In December 2019, this fanbase crowdfunded £3365 towards the recording of Andy’s debut album, recorded with his band The Ginkgo Milk, and due for release in Autumn of 2020. The thunderous three and a half octaves of his vocal range have brought him comparisons to singers-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen, Paolo Nutini and Jeff Buckley, and his guitar work has had him compared to John Mayer and John Frusciante.
His upcoming debut album is a collection of fourteen songs, written over the last decade. Inspired by various first and second hand experiences working and witnessing the various night lives of Tamworth, Birmingham and London, the collection captures the mood, stories and character of a Friday night in a fictional, decaying industrial UK town.
Andy found his calling after skipping exams, in 2009, to go to Glastonbury music and arts festival. In the mud and sunshine Andy was blown away by performances from Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Nick Cave, Pete Doherty, Paolo Nutini and many more. It was during the Bruce Springsteen headline show, however, that his future would really be decided. “I only knew one song, I think. Born in the USA. That was it. But I had a friend that I went with who was really into him. He was also the headline act so we had to go and see his show. I was just blown away. This guy’s aura, his energy, his lyrics, his power, his passion…I felt like I was at church and that I’d found my religion.” Andy has since poured over music in many of its forms from Jazz to Blues, Folk to Classic Rock, Alternative Rock to Indie Rock, Soul to Funk, Rock n Roll to R&B and Dance to Pop culminating in a sound Andy defines as Soul Rock, “a sort of Soul/Blues/Indie Rock hybrid”. Some of his primary influences include Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, John Martyn, John Mayer, Tom Waits, Paolo Nutini, Gary Clark Jr., Arctic Monkeys, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Black Keys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and more.
Creativity seems to run in Andy John Jones’s family as well. On his father’s side, he is the great-great nephew of Alfred Janes a welsh painter and Dylan Thomas contemporary who composed three of Thomas’s most famous portraits. “My great grandmother was also a dear friend of Dylan Thomas’s. She used to type up his poems for him. Apparently my great-grandfather, a burly fisherman, didn’t get it at all. He used to come home from a hard days graft and exclaim ‘what pish and rubbish are you typing for him now!?’” On his mother’s side he is a direct descendent from the tenacious Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy and it is tenacity and creativity that have lead Andy John Jones to dedicate himself to a career in music.
His sound would become fully rounded by his move to London where, come sun or come snow, Andy spent twelve hour days busking the streets of Westminster building a growing and enthusiastic fanbase. In December 2019, this fanbase crowdfunded £3365 towards the recording of Andy’s debut album, recorded with his band The Ginkgo Milk, and due for release in Autumn of 2020. The thunderous three and a half octaves of his vocal range have brought him comparisons to singers-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen, Paolo Nutini and Jeff Buckley, and his guitar work has had him compared to John Mayer and John Frusciante.
His upcoming debut album is a collection of fourteen songs, written over the last decade. Inspired by various first and second hand experiences working and witnessing the various night lives of Tamworth, Birmingham and London, the collection captures the mood, stories and character of a Friday night in a fictional, decaying industrial UK town.
Andy found his calling after skipping exams, in 2009, to go to Glastonbury music and arts festival. In the mud and sunshine Andy was blown away by performances from Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Nick Cave, Pete Doherty, Paolo Nutini and many more. It was during the Bruce Springsteen headline show, however, that his future would really be decided. “I only knew one song, I think. Born in the USA. That was it. But I had a friend that I went with who was really into him. He was also the headline act so we had to go and see his show. I was just blown away. This guy’s aura, his energy, his lyrics, his power, his passion…I felt like I was at church and that I’d found my religion.” Andy has since poured over music in many of its forms from Jazz to Blues, Folk to Classic Rock, Alternative Rock to Indie Rock, Soul to Funk, Rock n Roll to R&B and Dance to Pop culminating in a sound Andy defines as Soul Rock, “a sort of Soul/Blues/Indie Rock hybrid”. Some of his primary influences include Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, John Martyn, John Mayer, Tom Waits, Paolo Nutini, Gary Clark Jr., Arctic Monkeys, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Black Keys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and more.
Creativity seems to run in Andy John Jones’s family as well. On his father’s side, he is the great-great nephew of Alfred Janes a welsh painter and Dylan Thomas contemporary who composed three of Thomas’s most famous portraits. “My great grandmother was also a dear friend of Dylan Thomas’s. She used to type up his poems for him. Apparently my great-grandfather, a burly fisherman, didn’t get it at all. He used to come home from a hard days graft and exclaim ‘what pish and rubbish are you typing for him now!?’” On his mother’s side he is a direct descendent from the tenacious Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy and it is tenacity and creativity that have lead Andy John Jones to dedicate himself to a career in music.