Andrew J Newall —

Musician, songwriter and storyteller

Andrew J Newall – BIO - 18th October 2020
Music has always been a part of my life but in 2009 I made the decision to dedicate more time to learning this craft. I was based in London at the time and I began making a name for myself in the local folk clubs. In 2012 I moved to Bristol where I would tour the folk clubs of the west country and south Wales. I have also been lucky to have performed on the continent and in North America. In 2014, I began supporting the band The Undecided Brew (TUB) based out of Glasgow. The gigs were always for charity events and good fun.
Following the death of my son in 2016 I decided to take a new direction and gave up my day job. In 2017 I moved permanently back to Scotland and went back to college to learn all about sound production. This decision led me to meet many talented professionals in the music business. I studied sound production for two years. I am still learning. Pauls death led me to write my first song 'Everyday'. 'I am not sure where it came from but all of a sudden music and words began to flow. I shot a video for the sound track to Everyday on Barra. The song was released as part of a campaign to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. In total we raised over £10,000.' The video can be seen on 'YouTube' under AJN Music. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GoqAT6UKuc)
Not long after the release of the Everyday video I began working on my first album. I partnered with Sandy Jones from the Foundry Music Lab (FML)and Graeme Duffin from Wet Wet Wet. In September 2018 I released my first album, 'Reflections from an Airport.' The reviews continue to be very positive.
Shortly after this I was asked to write and produce a second charity song. This time for Namibia and for the Lothian Scout movement. This was the first song where John and I collaborated. You can find it on Spotify. It is still raising money for Namibia
I soon noticed that while my album would always stimulate positive comments a common theme was emerging from the folk clubs I performed at. 'The new songs are good but it would be nice to hear the songs you were better known for'. This was the inspiration for my second album - 'Janus'. The focus of this album was to look back and capture some of the material I have been singing for ten years while blending in new material written on Barra. I am pleased to report that the feedback has again been very positive and the album qualified as a contender for Scottish Album of the year 2020.
With the introduction of lockdown TUB decided we should put the time to good use and work on an album. The album was produced in my home studio. We all collaborated on each track and our personal influences and styles comes through. The album is called, ‘Still Feeling Good.’ I am very pleased with the result.
Andrew J Newall
October 2020