Andy Smith – General Meeting

With an interesting array of stringed instruments stacked behind him, our speaker Andy Smith introduced himself as an instrumentalist/vocalist and songwriter who originally hailed from Lincoln. An hour whizzed by as he took us on a journey through his life using self-penned songs and well known tunes interspersed with nostalgic anecdotes and amusing chat to illustrate some momentous occasions.
Starting with his own song ‘Baby Blues’ which is self-explanatory, he moved on to ‘Fairground Machine’ which was inspired by his childhood trips to the circus and fair on Lincoln’s South Common. The latter was played on a mandolin but then he exchanged it for the more unfamiliar tenor guitar which has only four strings, is expensive to buy but sounded wonderful as he launched into ‘Leaving on a jet plane’. At this point, he announced that after every talk, he likes to score his audience on their participation however, they did not need an incentive to join in with such a legendary ballad although their voices were lacking in volume.
The tenor guitar was swapped for an unusual looking, shiny black, curved and bulbous electric guitar. He explained that this reflected his rock era and was a popular instrument with many eminent musicians of the time although he now found it quite difficult to play on his less than slim line figure. His lyrics told of the dodgy late-night curries he and his friends consumed after over indulging in the pub and his words probably resonated with many in the audience who had enjoyed similar experiences in their youth.
As he matured in age, Andy’s music tastes changed, he stopped going to rock concerts and he traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one so he could emulate the great singer songwriters of the time. Picking up his own acoustic guitar, he played the opening chords of American Pie by Don McLean which was immediately recognised by the audience who joined in enthusiastically and loudly this time. Andy now began patronising folk clubs where he decided he too could compete with the best of them and write and sing songs which were not just about shipwrecks. To prove it, he plucked at the strings of his acoustic guitar and sang us ‘The girl with the innocent smile’.
To make ends meet, Andy worked at Nat West bank during the day and gave guitar lessons at night to students, many of whom didn’t practice from one week to the next so he wrote a song about them. His lyrics certainly expressed his exasperation at their lack of musical ability but also his affection for a particular female student which made everyone laugh out loud. His next song was entitled ‘Wish you were with me tonight’ and was written about his new girlfriend, now wife. Before singing it, he furnished us with details of how, why and where they met; this was followed by a song he wrote about his good friend Paddy who was considered to be a bad influence on him by his mother. Their antics together were fully itemised in ‘Take me home’ and the catchy tune generated much foot tapping and swaying from the audience. Andy’s final song was a lullaby; soothing, simple and melodic, it was a fitting end to an excellent mix of music, yarns and personal stories delivered pitch perfect.