Andy Eastwood (born 20 May 1979 in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England) is a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers

* Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Barker (occupation), Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Cheerleader * Circus arts, Circus perform ...

and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

player. His interest in the ukulele and

banjolele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

began when his grandfather gave him his first instrument as a child, and after reading music at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he also studied

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, he graduated as the historic university's first musician ever to give a degree recital on the ukulele. After cutting his teeth as a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

performer, Eastwood broke into

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and developed a reputation as a multi-instrumental

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

act, combining his instrumental and vocal prowess with comic delivery, notably reminiscent of British film comedian

George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...

, to whom (amongst others) Eastwood pays tribute in his act. Recent years have seen him touring as an

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

and supporting act for

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

Danny La Rue Danny La Rue (born Daniel Patrick Carroll, 26 July 1927 – 31 May 2009) was an entertainer best known for on-stage theatrical productions, television shows and films where he customarily performed in drag. Early life Born Daniel Patrick Car ...

Ronnie Ronalde Ronald Charles Waldron (29 June 1923 – 13 January 2015), known professionally as Ronnie Ronalde, was a British music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginnin ...

and also starring in a wartime

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

called ''We'll Meet Again''. Eastwood's first CD album in 1999, was ''Ukulele Serenade''; it featured the comic songs of George Formby and various ukulele arrangements of well known standards, in keeping with his ambition to promote the ukulele to wider popularity than it had enjoyed in his youth. The album was championed by

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

presenter

Desmond Carrington Desmond Herbert Carrington (23 May 1926 – 1 February 2017) was a British broadcaster and actor whose career spanned 75 years. He was best known for his weekly show on BBC Radio 2 which aired for 35 years, from 4 October 1981 until his final b ...

. Subsequent releases have included ''Ukulele Mania'' (2004), ''We'll Meet Again'' (2005), ''Bring Me Sunshine'' (2007), and ''Ukulele Mania Bonus Edition'' (2009). In addition to the

and

, he plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, keyboards,

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, washboard, and of course,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, on his recordings. In 2008 Eastwood began presenting a music programme called ''Andy's Attic'' on the internet radio station

Retro Jukebox Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

, and in 2010 he released his first DVD, ''We'll Meet Again''. Eastwood's TV appearances include '' Barrymore'', ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'', ''

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

'', ''

Today with Des and Mel ''Today with Des and Mel'' is a British chat show that aired on ITV from 30 September 2002 to 12 May 2006 and was hosted by Des O'Connor and Melanie Sykes. The show featured celebrity guests, phone-in competitions and chat between the hosts. ...

'', and he also taught comedian

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), known professionally as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

to play the ukulele for the 2006 BBC One show '' Play It Again''. Skinner became so interested in the instrument that as a result he went on to make a George Formby documentary for

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, in which Eastwood also appeared. A further Skinner documentary '' What A Performance'' in 2015 also featured Eastwood discussing George Formby and playing one of Formby's original instruments, which he now owns. Eastwood continued his quest to demonstrate the ukulele's worth as a 'serious' instrument in 2015 with the release of ''Three Classics for Ukulele'', a suite of classical pieces arranged as challenging instrumental solos. In 2016 he was voted into the showbusiness charity organisation The

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership an ...

Discography

*''Ukulele Serenade'' (1999) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 991 *''Running Wild'' with the band 'Red Hot & Blonde' (2002) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 021 *''Ukuelele Mania'' (2004) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 031 *''We'll Meet Again'' (2005) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 051 *''Bring Me Sunshine'' (2007) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 061 *''Ukulele Mania Bonus Edition'' (2009) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 081 *''We'll Meet Again (DVD)'' (2010) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 101 *''Spirit Of The Blitz'' with singer Lucia Matisse (2011) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 111 *''We'll Meet Again Bonus Edition'' (2015) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 151 *''The Andy Eastwood Collection'' (2015) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 152 *''Three Classics For Ukulele (EP)'' (2015) Label: ACE Music Catalogue No: ACE 153

References

External links

Official websiteLive video footage of 'William Tell's Ukulele' from 'Ukulele Mania'Listen to ''Andy's Attic'' on internet radio station Retro Jukebox
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwood, Andy English comedy musicians English violinists British male violinists 1979 births Living people British ukulele players Musicians from Blackburn British vaudeville performers 21st-century English violinists 21st-century British male musicians