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ANDY BOLLER -
pianobar entertainer, career musician and songwriter
i was born in Springfield, Ohio. i began playing
piano at age 4. Puberty brought on a severe case of rock and roll
fever, and i started the first of a long line of bands at age 12. By age 14, i was a regular on the Springfield area teen dance circuit with the Third Half, playing what was then referred to as TOP 40, later in a more "Psychedelic" combo called Crescent Carnival. By 17 i was playing Country music in a C&W bar located in a shopping center..go figure!
i first came to prominence in the Detroit area in the late 1970's,
playing piano with Steve Newhouse and the Nuke-A-Billies, a raucous
honky-tonk country/rock band that was a regular feature at the much loved
and forever missed, "Mr Flood's Party", an Ann Arbor institution.
< http://www.nukeabillies.com/page1002.aspx >
In August, 1980 i joined the Urbations in their formative stage, playing
keyboards, and singing back up vocals and contributing most of the arrangements. After the departure of original lead vocalist Dan Mulholland, in Spring of '83, i became the principal vocalist. --- here is a Mulholland link / video of Urbations "BLURT ERA" posters etc - i am the middle guy with mustache -
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyQV6R3D-08 >
i began writing and arranging the bulk of the original material for the band and was the primary lead singer as well as producer of all subsequent recordings.
In 1986, Celluloid Recerds released and internationally distributed
their "Hot Foot" 12" EP (written, arranged by me and produced by me and Ben Grosse) Under the guidance of their manager John Sinclair, (known in the 60's for his management of the MC5, leadership of the White Panthers, victim of "10 for 2", author of "Guitar Army", & subject of a John Lennon song) Here's a link with an interview with John from the late 90's.
< http://www.westword.com/1997-08-07/music/surviving-the-sixties/2 >
The Urbations (which included future Howling Diablos, Tino and Johnny Evans) spent much of 1985 (before the release of "Hot Foot") and 1986, and on into 1987, touring the US in support of this release, extending their following to Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, St.Louls, Kansas City, New Orleans, St.Petersburg, Washington DC, Boston, and New York City. (we even did gigs in Wichita and Omaha! uh remember Clinton, Iowa, guys?)
i left the Urbations in May, 1987. In 1988 i began performing with
Madcat's "Pressure Cooker", a band which featured internationally known
harmonica wizard Peter "Madcat" Ruth. We released an LP "Live at the Pig", and
thrilled audiences in the US and Canada.
The Cooker simmered down in December, 1989. From early '90 until i left US to live in Europe in May of 1991, i performed as a sideman with the John D. Lamb Band ..keyboards and backing vocals.
i continue to perform solo, primarily in Europe.
This dynamic performer is available for solo appearances or if you can afford him, with you and your band!
His fiery piano and versatile vocals leave audiences clamoring for more.
OK, back to first person!
The tracks on this site include original tunes of mine in a variety of performance settings--- solo, (on guitar and piano) duo (featuring Peter "Madcat" Ruth on harmonica), live band (Skaffle, an instrumental tune composed for and performed with the Urbations, 1982, recorded live at Ann Arbor's also beloved and long gone, Joe's Star Lounge. Check out the Maraca work by Mr Dr Blurt Sandblaster MD 20/20) The tune, "She Has A Way With Her Eyes", is from "Chasing Dreams" a solo cassette release of 1987, recorded solo on my then brand new RD300 digital piano. This is one of my Mother's favorite tunes of mine, so i put it on for her. There it little likelihood of her seeing / hearing it on the web, but i thought you might enjoy it if she does! "Midnight Drive" from my post Urbations effort, "Side by Side". It has a number of Ann Arbor musicians helping out, Dave Koether on percussion, Sam Clarke on guitar, Steve Cummings on pedal steel, and Lista Brown helping out on backing vocals, and of course, Madcat, as always, adding some magic, it remains a personal favorite. The photo is of the house where i lived at the time. "Hot Foot" was the Urbations most successful recording, it features a scintillating guitar solo by Doug Koernke. i produced this with Ben Grosse, in '86. Ben has gone on to work with some greats, you can look it up! Now it's about time to do something new, anybody wanna produce Andy Boller for 2008? Here are just a few of the piano bar venues where Andy has performed in Europe in the last 17 years.:
Moods - Zermatt, Switzerland:
Kursaal- Casino Luzern, Switzerland
Park Hotel Vossevangen -Voss, Norway
Hotel Splendid- Zurich, Switzerland
Quality Hotel Fagernes -Fagernes, Norway
The Scotsman- Bergen, Norway
Café des Arts- Basel, Switzerland
Hotel S:t Jörgen- Malmö, Sweden
MS Crown of Scandinavia- Oslo / Copenhagen
Raden Mas of Amsterdam- Amsterdam, Holland
Fingers Piano Bar- Edinburgh, Scotland
Taverne Ecu de France- Tournai, Belgium
Harry's New York Bar- Hannover, Germany
Widder Bar Hotel Widder -Zürich, Switzerland
Quality Skaergarden Hotel and Badepark-Langesund, Norway
Laurin Bar- Bolzano, Italy
MS Pearl of Scandinavia- Oslo / Copenhagen
MS Jupiter - Bergen/ Newcastle
Reisen Bar - Stockholm, Sweden
Jacob's Bar BQ - Aarhus, Denmark
MS Birka Paradise - Stockholm
Andy's Pub - Oslo, Norway
Hotel Brittania - Trondheim, Norway
Piano Bar Schlossmühle - Frauenfeld , Switzerland
Posthotel Weggis Weggis - Switzerland a.m.o. |
