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Artist
Andy J. Forest
12+ albums
bluesblues-rockblues rockharmonicaharmonica blues
about
ANDY J. FOREST was born in Washington State in 1955. His family moved to Southern California where he grew up in the Pasadena area. At the age of 16 he quit school and went to Hawaii where he survived by picking shell fish on the coastal cliffs and selling them to the Japanese fish merchants, cleaning Hotels and picking pineapple on the Dole plantation. Upon returning to the mainland he studied violin and harmonica. A six month trip to the Virgin Islands after hitchhiking to New York added to the resume of already some 30 jobs he'd had, ranging from fishing salmon in the Northern Pacific, constuction, oil refinery tank-scraping, roofing and electrician's assistant. Andy studied music, dance, Latin and fencing at Pasadena Junior College when he was 18. During this time he focused on blues harmonica, which would later lead to a recording career. Moving to New Orleans in 1974 he received a scholarship at a local dance company. Between waiting tables at Brennan's and playing harmonica with local bands he began to experiment with poetry and songwriting. 1977 found Andy on a three month trip to Europe that lasted over ten years. He recorded the first of 13 albums in 1979, consistantly writing 90% of the material. Touring extensively in Europe he returned to New Orleans periodically to record his songs and play in clubs. In Italy, he began teaching harmonica seminars and master classes and interviewing rock stars for Italian television as his Italian became fluent. A casting age
