Music Teacher

Andy Graham has been a performing Musician and Music Tutor for well over 30 years, covering Piano, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar and Bass. Andy developed an interest in the performing arts at an early age and was always in school bands, choirs and theatrical productions. Andy’s grandfather had a big influence on him as a child, an instrumentally versatile jazz and skiffle musician who used to play with Billy Cotton (senior), the famous big-band leader.

Andy performed his first paid gig at just 12 years of age, which was for the Bromley (Kent) Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. As well as being a musician, over the years, Andy has also been a radio presenter for various local community radio stations, been heard as a vocalist on BBC Radio 3, and has had minor acting roles on television, including appearing in an episode of Coronation Street and on the Jerry Sadowitz Show, as well as in promotional videos.

Andy has experienced playing keyboards, guitar and bass guitar on almost every style or genre of music, but his main background is contemporary, including Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues and Contemporary Folk. He has performed at many different types of events, functions and venues (please see below for examples of actual venues where Andy has performed). He has also written music and done studio session work, including offering advice on musical arrangements and production.

In its time, Andy was the keyboard player in the well-known UK Pink Floyd tribute band, “Us Not Them”. Before this, Andy played keys in "Strange Daze", a Doors and blues-rock tribute band. During a gig at the Bun Shop (now The Brave New World), Surbiton, during the early 1990's, Kinks drummer, Mick Avory, told Andy that Strange Daze was the most exciting blues-rock sound he had heard in South London for a long time. These days, Andy focuses more on teaching, but still performs occasionally, including in the popular blues band, “Off The Wall” (based around Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire), “Amethyst”, a versatile cover band (based in Bromley, Kent), and as a solo act for private events, being an accomplished keyboard-vocalist, guitar-vocalist and solo/cocktail pianist (jazz and easy listening).

Theatres

Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, Kent; Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking, Surrey; The Komedia Theatre, Brighton, East Sussex; Westgate Pavilion, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent; The Old Post Office Theatre, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

Popular Music Venues

The Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London; The Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford, Kent; Earls, Maidstone, Kent; The Brave New World (formerly The Bun Shop), Surbiton, Surrey; The Cartoon, Croydon, Surrey; The Bank Pub, Exmouth, Devon; The Grey Horse, Kingston upon Thames, London; The Studio, Beckenham, Kent; The Two Brewers, Covent Garden, London; Eastbourne Bandstand, Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Social Clubs

The New Circle Club, Elmers End, Beckenham, Kent; Sutton Football Club, Sutton, Surrey; Harrow British Legion Club, Harrow, Middlesex; Hayes (Kent) British Legion Club; The Bromley United Services Club, Bromley, Kent; Greenwich Town Social Club, Greenwich, SE London; Sidcup Working Men’s Club, Sidcup, SE London; Oakley House, Bromley Common, Kent; Cwmaman Workmen’s & Social Club, Aberdare, Wales; Bromley Conservative Club, Bromley, Kent.

Hotels and Restaurants

Scandic Crown Hotel, Rotherhithe, SE London; Burford Bridge Hotel, Box Hill, Surrey; Donnington Manor Hotel, Dunton Green, Kent; Bickley Manor Hotel, Bromley, Kent; Abode Hotel, Canterbury, Kent; The Laughing Buddha Chinese Restaurant, Bexley, South London; The CRU Restaurant (now Harpers), West Wickham, Kent; The Coney, West Wickham, Kent; Sabir Tandoori Restaurant, Bromley, Kent; Brassett Churrascaria (Brazilian Restaurant), Bromley, Kent.

Universities

University of Keele, Staffordshire; Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent; Lancaster University, Lancashire; University of Exeter, Devon; Plymouth University, Devon.

Andy has also performed extensively overseas, not just in Europe, but also in the Canary Islands, and as far away as China and the Philippines.

Over the years, Andy has played in various support bands and has, therefore, met and shared the same stage with many well-known bands and artists. These include Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, The Pogues, Hawkwind, Doctor & The Medics, Mud, Amazulu, The John Miller Orchestra and Courtney Pine, to name just a few. He has also worked in bands with very prominent musicians, examples including The Sweet’s drummer, Bruce Bisland; Viv Prince, the drummer from the Pretty Things; Phil Smith, Simply Red’s early touring guitarist; Simon J. Pinto, Mariah Carey's former guitarist and studio guitarist for Brian May and Peter Andre; Gospel artist, Godfrey Birtill, and 'The Father of Chinese Rock', Cui Jian (Andy performed with him in mainland China).

Andy has an MA from the University of Keele and a professional diploma in coaching (IIC&M). He is also an accredited music tutor with the Registry of Guitar Tutors (RGT) and London College of Music (LCM), which is part of the University of West London, as well as with the Musicians’ Union, of which he is a member. Andy is listed as a recommended local music teacher on the London Borough of Bromley website. He is DBS checked.

During the 1990's, Andy taught keyboards at Charles Darwin School, Biggin Hill, Kent. Andy has helped many of his private students go on to further or higher education in music, including the BRIT School, Trinity College London and Croydon College (Music Technology). He has seen a number of his students become professionals in the music industry.