Andy Comley HALF-way through the gig, a drunk in the audience lurched up to Andy Comley, put his head close to the microphone and blurted through beery breath: "Your music's rubbish!" Calmly, Andy thanked the drinker for his view and carried on performing. But behind the brave face, the experience sent an arrow searing into the heart of Andy's greatest love - singing his own songs. It was the lowest point in Andy's musical career and one that nearly put him out of the business for good. "After that, I just stopped playing gigs. I lost confidence completely and wouldn't play live," he said. "It was an awful time and I really thought it was the end of live performances for me. It was heartbreaking because playing my music is all I ever wanted to do." But Andy is a survivor...in every respect. He's learned outdoor survival skills from Ray Mears, the best in the bush craft business. He's survived the musicians' school of hard knocks - pub venues where the locals are interested in boozing, brawling and little else. And he's spent years skint - once budgeting for just £3 a day to get himself through to the end of the week. But now, three years after being persuaded back onto the live stage, and with an energetic new promoter in East Hampshire-based Iain S. Martin, he's beginning to carve a name for himself at rock, folk and blues venues across the south. "I was becoming a bit disillusioned and couldn't see how I could progress onto the next level away from grotty pubs. Luckily, I met Iain and we've been getting better gigs at better venues and things are really starting to happen," Andy said. Recent progress has been rapid for Hampshire born and bred Andy, 35, who lives with his partner Andrea and their friendly terrier Dougie at Owslebury near Winchester. Eight months ago he was playing just one gig a month in small pub venues. Now he's playing six a month, all in reputable music venues. He'’s turned full-time professional musician, is putting the finishing touches to a live album and is half way through recording his next album. There are plans for a nation wide tour supporting Cambridge-based alternate country band the-low-country and he recently headlined gigs at two major clubs in London for up and coming singer-songwriters. Andy's songs are soulful ballads - thoughtful, romantic and moving - a mix of folk and blues. He's been likened to David Gray but his style is individual and independent - much like the man himself. Most gigs are solo but he also appears as a duo with good friend Dave Bulbeck on upright bass. Occasionally the band becomes a trio with the addition of another friend, Deano Elson on sax. Andy has always been surrounded by music. Mother was a country music fan - "we always sang along in the car to the good country stuff before it became all spangly" - and father sang in a choir. Pink Floyd and Bruce Springstein were early influences and while his friends bought the latest chart hits Andy waded through the bargain buckets searching for the blues. His first song was written at a friend's flat in Southsea. He says it was poor but song writing felt the most natural thing to do and the floodgates opened. "Something began to happen - something subconscious started chucking these songs out and I had a really good two years' writing. It was so easy then. "Some of the songs from then are still in my set list for gigs now - I can't have been that good on the guitar but those songs have stood the test of time." His first live performance was at a pub when friends pushed him up on stage. He enjoyed the experience and, with a friend acting as manager, set out to build a career in music. "Neither of us knew what we were doing. We must have looked a right couple of turnips going into pubs acting like hard-bitten musicians. "But it's a really hard road to follow - playing pubs where no-one wants to listen to your music. All they want are covers of famous stuff. "I used to play grotty pubs all the time. Nobody knew my songs, or liked them and they'd just stand there - it was all a bit unnerving really. "I played one pub where no-one clapped for three hours. At the end, one man came up and said my music was good but they wanted to sing along to well-known songs." He tried the record contract route but discovered that, too, was a thankless task. He also discovered that as a twenty-something he was considered over the hill by an industry obsessed with youth. "I met loads of bored people who, without hearing my music, told me I was too old. They had no idea whether I was any good or not, just that I was over 18! "If I can get my career going in the right direction they'll perhaps be keen to talk to me and I can negotiate more than one per cent of one per cent. Andy's last day job - helping erect huge oak garden structures - gave him more money than he has had in a long time. But he's given up the extra cash for a full-time career in music. "With Iain taking a lot of the organisational stuff off my shoulders I can concentrate on what I love doing best - writing and playing music." Away from music Andy loves the big outdoors. He learned outdoor survival skills so that he could live on his wits if his money ran out while travelling after college. That knowledge has been honed under the guidance of survival expert Ray Mears. "His courses were fantastic. You learn so much about yourself when it is just you, four days on a Scottish moor, a knife and Billy can," he said. "It was really hard but it takes your brain off for a few days. Sitting by a camp fire is my place to be." Andy's next aim is to crack the top music venues in Hampshire. He's enjoyed packed gigs at The Mash Tun in Winchester and wants to headline at other major venues in the county. "We've made a real step change in the last few months - better venues, better gigs and better audiences. "It's never been my aim to do the Mick Jagger thing with all that celebrity stuff. I'd love to have the status of someone like Irish folk singer Christy Moore and pack out decent-sized theatres. "I want to play songs and live them with the audience. I want the career of the artist not the famous person." ends |
