| Andrew Collins‘ skills as mandolinist, vocalist and composer,
have put him in the center of a growing Canadian acoustic-music scene.
He is a founding member of several of Canada’s top acoustic string bands
including the Creaking Tree String Quartet, The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Crazy
Strings and the “new/old” country string band Lickin’ Good Fried. With
these bands, Andrew is called to explore several musical genres, spanning
Bluegrass, Jazz, Blues, Swing, Celtic and Classical music.
Both the Creaking Tree String Quartet and the Foggy
Hogtown Boys have been recognized for their work as the recipients of several
awards, including a Juno Nomination for Best Roots & Traditional album
of 2004, a 2005 Canadian Folk Music Award for Pushing the Boundaries and
several Central Canada Bluegrass association awards, most notably Mandolin
player of the year in 2005.
As a solo artist Andrew has recorded and produced several
albums of original instrumental music. Among them include a recent solo
album, entitled “Little Widgets” which earned him a 2006 Canadian Folk
Music Award for Pushing the Boundaries. This self produced album
features nine original instrumental compositions, showcasing his abilities
as multi- instrumentalist on mandolin, guitar, mandola, mandocello and
fiddle.
This spring marks the addition of three new releases to Andrew’s
discography, one by each of the Foggy Hogtown Boys and Creaking Tree String
Quartet and a collaboration with Irish native Brian Taheney. With these
projects and several more in the works, there should be no doubt that Andrew
will be an integral force in the evolution and advancement of string music
in Canada and beyond. |
