Hailing from Worcester, 24 year old, multi-instrumentalist Robinson hits the UK with his debut album.
Robinson was born into a culturally astute family who cultivated a firm discipline in the household from a very young age. Music was a central focus in uniting the family at home, and Andy believes his artistic upbringing has made him incredibly focused on his music.
Andy Robinson’s Grandfather left him his clarinet in his Will which was the first instrument Andy learned to play at age 9. Growing up, Andy was exposed to all sorts of music from The Doors, to Hendrix, to Mozart, and Beethoven. His first ever music purchase was a Buddy Holly cassette at the age of 7, which he exhausted to the point it was unplayable.
At 16 after performing solo with an acoustic guitar and vocals, and winning a talent contest, Andy began to take music seriously.
England’s Bleeding is like a photo gallery of musical landscapes. Each track reflects his youth in England - the loves, politics, struggles, drinks and dreams, failures and frustrations and all the ironies that they produce.
The picturesque backdrop of the Elgar drenched Malvern countryside, along with the raspy lyrics of John Martyn, and the sensuous delicate soul of Nick Drake helped inspire Andy to write his debut album, “England’s Bleeding”. All of the instruments on the album were played by Andy himself, as he had no money to pay session musicians. These included the Clarinet, saxophone, guitar, banjo, glockenspiel, accordion and percussion.
Hints of soul shine through in Andy’s vocals, which touch on 60’s “Motown” pioneers Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye. The harmonies on the album so clearly reflect Andy’s admiration for groups like The Byrds, Beatles, and The Mamas & The Papas.
Production-wise, Andy harked back to his childhood inspirations and appreciating the organic feel of Tom Waits and Buddy.
Title track “England’s Bleeding”, was inspired musically from Tom Waits, as he is one of the few artists out there who used chord patterns of traditional Bulgarian gypsy music.