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Andy Walo, grew up in Stockholm, Sweden as the youngest
of five children. As each of his siblings grew up and
left home, he would listen to all of the great pop
records they left behind...mostly The Beatles, The
Rolling Stones, The Who and a lot of Motown. For Andy it
was like discovering hidden treasure. At
age five he spent nearly everyday at the turntable
listening to The Beatles White Album, over and over
again. "I
couldn't get it through my head how out of tune they
were but still sounded so good." He got his first
guitar at age 11 and joined his first band at age 14,
playing Beatles and Stones songs note for note (in
tune).
His was a
household filled with music. His father played lots of
traditional Jazz records such as Louis Armstrong, Sidney
Bechet and Benny Goodman. His mother was more into
Hymns/Spirituals and Gospel like Mahalia Jackson, but
also played a lot of Classical music.
A
few years later, Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin became huge
influences as well. After high school Andy leaned more
and more towards Blues and early Rock and Roll. Andy
remembers, "I saw Albert King on TV one time...and
after that it was all over! Next it was Jimmy Reed, John
Lee Hooker, Otis Rush and Albert Collins. They all
became great influences in my music." Andy
went on to establish himself as a full-time musician
living and performing in Denmark and England from
1989-1993.
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