Musical Beginnings:
Learning to play the guitar at the age of twelve, the instrument quickly became part of my identity. The fret-board never far from my fingers, friends always turned to me for a song. Sade, Muddy Waters or Otis Reading-style songs were great atmosphere-builders and I loved to oblige a request for “a bit of music”.
Later, free weekends saw me at Oxford Circus Tube or playing in a club…
Jesus and my Life:
Parallel to my enjoyment of music but increasingly surpassing it was my experience of walking with Jesus Christ as my King and Saviour. At seventeen I started to write songs about Him with the purpose of communicating something more radical and revolutionary than simply a good vibe.
Friends unable to talk about such close-to-the-heart subjects would listen, enquire, cry, laugh and question the deepest themes when they came out of a song… some coming right to that place of responding to Jesus and experiencing that ultimate of homecomings.
University missions in cities such as Birmingham, Cardiff and London were good opportunities to take this message to a wider audience. During this time I met jazz saxophonist Nick Beston with whom I played a number of venues. His melodic solos complemented my compositions and his friendship and creativity inspired me to push the music further…
Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia:
My wife – Faye – and I moved to Serbia during a shocking period of that region’s history. But in partnership with local believers and under the auspices of Oak Hall, we began a mission course to facilitate the sending out of Serb, Croat and Bosnian missionaries to their own people.
We praise God for the opportunities that we have seen as over one hundred and fifty people have been with us for a year of study and outreach experience and then moved out to the mission fields around us. A team of twelve local people now work alongside us to lead this project.
During the last seven years in the Balkans, the music recorded on “Dreams of a Homecoming” has been written played and honed in places ranging from train stations to TV stations, theatres to beach bars…
Dreams of a Homecoming
The theme of “Homecoming” is a powerful one to me in the context of the destruction we have witnessed: wars, ethnic-cleansing, refugees and bombing.
But this theme is not one that is just for the Balkans: the world is full of those who dream of a homecoming.
As He explains in Luke 15, it was to bring us “home” that Jesus came.
In the insert of the CD I wrote:
“A longing for a homecoming fills countless people’s hearts: a yearning for peace…”
My prayer is simply that this album would communicate about Jesus – the Prince of Peace – the One who died to bring us home.
– Andy 01/05/03