I suppose when I was a little boy I used to write little songs and sing them to my family.  Mum used to call them calypsos as they were usually about whatever was going on at the time.

Calypso:

"...typically with words improvised on the topical theme..."

When I was 21 my sister bought me a guitar on which I learned to play a few chords but never actually advanced to being able to do a song. I remember Mum saying to me one day as I struggled to learn a few basic chords that she was glad that I had found music as I had such a love of it when I was a little boy.

Waterskiing was a big part of my life at that stage as I worked as an outboard motor mechanic at Leo’s Marine in Townsville and competed regularly in lane racing events and also offshore Ski-racing which were speed skiing events  often around an Island.  Cairns held ski-races out to green and Fitsroy island which started from  and returned to the marlin wharf in Cairns inlet.

Another big one was the around Hinchenbrook Island from the Cardwell jetty down Hinchenbrook channel past Lucinda and around the front of the island and back to the Jetty. Townsville held events from the strand out to Bay Rock and back and also around Magnetic Island. These events ranged anywhere from 20 to 60 miles in distance.

The Guitar had spent a fair bit of time in the cupboard at this stage and I remember I was in the Vic Park Hotel in South Townsville and a three piece band that consisted of a Guitar,Base and 5 string Banjo were playing. I really enjoyed the sound and I suppose about the only bluegrass flavour I had been exposed to at that time was Dueling Banjo’s the theme from Deliverance which they played in one of their sets to the half pickled audiences great delight.

I said to my girlfriend at the time the beautiful Kerry Rogers that I wouldn’t mind learning to play the Banjo. Well it wasn't long until my birthday and guess what, yep I got my first 5 string banjo. Kerry and her mother had relined the case with a blue velvet type material and bought me a book and so the journey began.

Whenever we went away skiing she would drive and I would practice rolls etc . I don't remember her ever complaining so I recon she must have really loved me because getting those banjo rolls going takes huge amounts of repetition, so I recon she will have made a great mum as she has great tolerance levels.

I don't think I touched the guitar much after that untill about 10 years Later  Whilst driving the Trawler  (LIN-G) in the Torress Strait a girl brought a guitar over from another boat The“Judy-B” to get me to tune it as she didn’t have a tuner on board. I think we may have all had a few and some how she forgot to take it back with her and a few day’s later she had decided to go home on the mothership and so I had her guitar for a while as it was probably a month before I found out where to send it.

"In that month I actually persevered long enough to get to do a whole song. Yippee I’d done it."

So I decided to buy another guitar as I had had my old one converted to left hand and given it to my mate Richi a few years prior.  Anyway I rang my friends Buddy & Lyn in Cairns and asked if they could have a look for a guitar for me. Soon I was the proud owner of a Maton DC .

About a year or so later I went to the U S for three months and after coming home just started writing my own songs.

My first Album Mind  Games was recorded at my good friend Richi Redgards place on our computer with Richi both playing guitar,electric, acoustic and bass and also mastering and engineering the  with the  great musicianship of Buddy James Alias Theodore Potter (guitar harmonica dobro) and Mike “Tractor” Connor doing the artwork five years later

Andy's Story