Andy White

Event information

“One of the finest songwriters of his generation” (R2 Magazine, UK)
“The heart is open and the words are a tumble of sentiment” (Belfast Telegraph)
“Effortless and captivating” (Irish Times)

Irish songwriter Andy White returns in support of live album “The night is approaching though some would say it was morning” (Floating World Records) and is looking forward to another evening of stories, songs and spoken word at the Kitchen Garden Café in the heart of Kings Heath, Birmingham.
The story of the live album begins with the friendship between Andy and legendary UK producer John Leckie (‘The Bends’, Muse, Roy Harper, Baba Maal). The two met at one of Peter Gabriel’s recording weeks at Real World Studios in Bath after a WOMAD festival. The two hit it off personally and professionally, with John mixing and producing many of Andy’s recordings (including the recent ‘AT’ album with Tim Finn). and spending many hours together, talking and telling stories in studios and at shows.

After one of Andy’s concerts John told him he wanted to buy an album of what he had just heard. A solo album recorded live. No band. No overdubs. “Where are we going to record it?” “The best-sounding room in the world.” “Err … where’s that?” “Abbey Road Studio 2.”

On July 14, 2023, Andy and John met at Abbey Road. John got his first job there in 1970. Andy had listened to records recorded there and looked at pictures taken there since he was a kid. Giles Martin was driving out as they drove in. Andy brought three guitars and an amp. John organised everything and when he took Andy down the stairs into Studio 2, told him to stop and smell the room. Nothing had changed since those great records had been recorded, and that is exactly what it smelled like.

John had asked Andy to write his best set list. In the afternoon they recorded the first half, in the evening a small group of friends and family arrived, and they recorded the second. You can see the pictures on the sleeve, you can hear the room on the record. They went to the café afterwards and sat talking under the photos of Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren, Cilla and the Beatles. Andy said goodbye and walked across the crossing on the way to the hire car. It was done.

The double-CD set has both evening and afternoon sessions. The vinyl LP has the evening session and a download code for both sessions. The live show will feature songs from throughout Andy’s songwriting career from ‘Religious Persuasion’ and ‘James Joyce’s Grave’ to ‘Italian Girls on Mopeds’ and ‘Good Luck I Hope You Make It’. The Irish troubadour is on his way home!