Way Out West playing at Hainault, Essex, on 28th of September 1993 скачать в хорошем качестве

Way Out West playing at Hainault, Essex, on 28th of September 1993

Andrea Burdett's parents had a love of country music and she always wanted to play country songs from an early age. She taught herself to play guitar when she was 11 and soon realised that she could sing entering, and winning , Junior Startime a talent contest at the Theatre Royal, Norwich in 1978. She auditioned for BBC TV's Crackerjack the following year in Norwich. A producer from the BBC's regional TV programme Look East was there and he asked Andrea to record a song. This proved so popular with viewers that she was invited back another five times. Andrea was now much in demand. Dick Condon from the Theatre Royal, Norwich wanted to manage her but she also had a letter from the BBC who wanted her to meet Robin Nash producer of Top Of The Pops. He believed he could get her a recording and publishing deal stating that she was going to be bigger than Lena Zavaroni. He made a programme for the BBC about her and at the age of 14 she was given a recording and publishing deal. Her parents refused to sign and after several years wrangling Andrea's hopes of becoming a star came to nothing. Andrea was obviously very disappointed. She was already a prolific songwriter and knew that she wanted to make music her career so she turned pro as a singer guitarist when she was 16. She worked mainly in pubs and social clubs in Norfolk and Suffolk playing middle of the road music which of course always included some country. She was quickly able to establish a considerable fan base, lots of pubs had singers at that time and the music scene in East Anglia was especially vibrant. She was quickly introduced to a basic drum machine which allowed her to be more creative with a much fuller sound. In 1982, Suffolk Punch a popular country trio were looking for a new bass player to replace Lindsey St John. After hearing about Andrea, they asked to see her and although it meant switching from guitar to bass she joined the trio and was soon touring all over the country. After a few months with the band, Andrea found the continual touring exhausting and when a tour of Japan was being planned she decide to leave. After Suffolk Punch, Andrea returned to the less hectic life of a singer/ songwriter guitarist once again taking only local gigs. During this period she recorded two cassette albums recording all her own backing tracks. In about 1990 she was looking for a fiddle player for two original songs she wanted to record and she approached Suzie Hanna who, at that time was working in a popular local busking band. In 1992 she decided to form an all girl country trio. She was very keen to have a fiddle player in the line up so asked Suzie Hanna who agreed to join the band. A local music arranger recommended Leigh Anne-Perryman as a bass player and Way Out West were launched onto the country circuit that year. Way Out West became increasingly popular on the club and festival circuit. They toured extensively and worked on cruise ships. This quickly earned popularity brought them a BCMA nomination for Best British Trio in 1993. Suzie left the trio in 1996 and was replaced by another excellent fiddle player Hayley Moyses. Her time with the band was short lived. Her replacement was another very experienced fiddle player Sandra Waters. Sandra had worked with the Tony Rouse Band and also with the very well respected Sweet Revenge which featured the late great John Stannard on lead guitar and Dennis Bray on vocals. Sandra too also only stayed with the band far a short time. Each time a fiddle player left Suzie Hanna would come back to stand in and on one occasion her husband Bob made the trio up to a quartet for a tour. Eventually, after a series of top session musicians including Wayne Hawes who played guitar for Billie Jo Spears when she toured the UK, keyboard player Jack Stowe and David Hartley one of the best pedal steel players in the business, had come and gone, Andrea and Leigh-Anne decided to call it a day in 1999. Way Out West made a brief reunion in 2013 when the three girls played together for the first time in 14 years without any rehearsal at Suzie's 60th birthday party. After this, Andrea was once again bitten by the bug and in 2014 went back on the road as a singer with a guitar. She is now once again fully pro working mainly in hotels and social clubs around the Norfolk and Suffolk coast. A full blown Way Out West reunion is also planned for later in the year. The girls are definitely 'up for it' but no dates have yet been set. It is a matter of finding a slot in their busy work schedules. Suzie told me “ We had a lot of fun, and we are still good friends, so we are serious about doing a gig together again. I honestly don’t think anyone has ever made me laugh as much as Leigh-Anne and Andrea used to.” Unfortunately all these plans have been put on hold due to covid.