COLLINS Andy (Sugarcane)

All the way from Cape York in the hot and humid tropical far north of Australia, where the rainforest meets the reef and where there are only two seasons, wet and dry, comes Andy "Sugarcane" Collins. With fire and skill and passion and commitment, Sugarcane plays his acoustic guitars with a driving rhythmic swing and sings powerfully with the big heart of a bluesman. Inspired by the slashing delta blues of Charley Patton & Son House, the joyous ragtime guitar of Blind Blake and the powerful songster traditions of Leadbelly, his songs are filled with deep emotional content and like the best of the early bluesmen, Collins is an exceptional storyteller. He had been first drawn to the Irish based traditional music of his homeland, but the blues, when he found it, was stronger and darker and ultimately, held more fascination. His early years were divided between the city and life on a small dairy farm in the bush. When his father gave him his first guitar at the age of seven and Collins instinctively started sliding his pocket knife up and down the strings, his future life as a travelling bluesman was all but sealed.

He hit the road at eighteen and found himself way up north in Cairns, Queensland in the late 70s at the peak of the Barbary Coast days, where in the wild stretch of waterfront pubs, boozing and brawling were given equal opportunity. You either learnt how to fight or play well enough to please the fishermen, canecutters, miners, bikers and all manner of desperado who drifted around the north when Cairns was a sugarcane town and the end of the road on the east coast of Australia. Collins survived this baptism of fire and was soon in demand for his raw soulful interpretations of the old southern country bluesmen he so reveres. He put together the three piece Lake Street Sheiks and other small groups, but it was in the six piece Barron River Drifters that he tasted his first major success. Appearing all over the far north, Collins and his band were legendary for their unique bluesy sound, outstanding musicianship and dynamic, high powered performances.

Leaving the band behind, Collins hit the road again and in 1992 went to Europe where he started working on his songwriting and performing solo again under the name of Black Cat Tail. Returning to Australia he records and releases his impressive debut album of original material Barron Delta Blue which spawns the catchy hit song 'Pascoe River', gets two tracks on EMI compilation albums, receives tremendous radio airplay in Australia and around the world and is honoured with a song of the year and two album of the year awards. Described by Mike Daly of The Age as "one of 1999's best Australian releases" the album chronicles his life in the wild far north. In 2003 Collins followed the phenomenal success of his first CD with the outstanding double album Lake Street Serenade. At the Queensland Recording Association "Sunnie" Awards, the highest honours given for recording and songwriting in Queensland, songs on Lake Street Serenade receive a record 12 nominations, win three "Sunnie" awards, and Collins is acknowledged as a major talent when he's crowned the Queensland Songwriter of the Year 2004.

Whilst appearing at many of Australia's major music festivals, Sugarcane has always had his sights set on international success and in the summer of 2005 made his first solo tour of the USA. Sharing the stage with Coco Montoya and WC Clark at the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival, jamming with Pinetop Perkins in Illinois, appearing on the legendary King Biscuit Time Show with "Sunshine" Sonny Payne on Radio KFFA in Helena Arkansas and singing in the streets of Clarksdale Mississippi during the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, Sugarcane's powerful emotive voice, superb original compositions and hard driving acoustic guitar were the backbone and trademark of his dynamic live performances and herald the emergence of an exciting new talent on the national and international blues scene.

In March of 2006 Sugarcane Collins released his much anticipated third solo album WAY DOWN THE RIVER in the USA and backed it up with the very successful three month 'Got A Story To Tell' Tour which started in New Orleans and finished up in Los Angeles. Says Sugarcane "American audiences really responded to the power and passion of my voice, the variety and dexterity of my guitar styles and the honesty and intensity of my overall stage performance. The Australian accent didn't hurt either!"

WAY DOWN THE RIVER has an Australian /Rest of the World release scheduled for November 2006 in Cairns. With a fascination for the acoustic bluesmen of the 20s & 30s this astonishing new album resonates with a rich imagery plumbed from deep within the rhythms of life in the Mississippi Delta. With moody production and sparse arrangements Sugarcane conjures up the cotton fields and baptist churches, the smoke-choked juke joints and gutbuckets, the freight trains, prison cells, dirt roads and street corners of the south that gave birth to the blues.

The response to WAY DOWN THE RIVER from the Blues community in the USA has been absolutely sensational.

CDs include:
Way Down the River (2006)
Lake St Serenade (2003)

Reference: http://www.australianbluesmusic.com.au/Artists/AndySugarcaneCollins.aspx  Downloaded 11 May 2012