Andy Cutting

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Andy Cutting is an English folk musician and composer. Born 18 March 1969 in Harrow, he plays melodeon and has had instruments made by Castagnari to his own specification. He won the Folk Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2008. He is married and has three children.

Career

Starting playing the melodeon in his early teens, Cutting was invited to join a local ceilidh band, Happenstance, when he had been playing for only a few months. In 1988 he joined the influential and innovative band Blowzabella (which also featured Nigel Eaton, with whom Cutting has since collaborated). Cutting made one album ("Vanilla") with Blowzabella before they broke up in 1990. Their repertoire, blending English traditional music with that of central France and Eastern Europe, had a great influence on Cutting. Blowzabella subsequently reformed; they celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2003, with Cutting once again an official member. They released the album, Octomento in 2007.

In 1989 Cutting formed a partnership with Chris Wood, whom he had met two years earlier at Sidmouth Folk Festival. They tour extensively and have made five albums together. Wood introduced Cutting to a wealth of Québecois music and shared his love of English and French dance music. Wood & Cutting, together with Karen Tweed and Ian Carr, make up the Two Duos Quartet, who have made one album Half as happy as we.

Tweed & Cutting have also worked as a duo; they have made one album together and contributed to a live CD, "Across the Waters", recorded at Cork University in 1994.

Cutting is in great demand as a session musician and has worked with artists as diverse as Sting, June Tabor and Chumbawamba. He has been a member of several bands, including Fernhill and Tanteeka. As well as the Wood & Cutting duo, he is part of the trio 1651 (with Mark Emerson and Tim Harries), the John McCusker Band and the Kate Rusby Band. He is also a popular workshop tutor and has taught at summer schools for Folkworks.

Compositions

Cutting has composed many tunes, several of which have been recorded by other artists. Some have passed into the music session repertoire.

• Altfechan
• Flatworld
• Heidi Hendy
• In Continental Mood
• I Only Want a Snack
• Miss Lindsay Barker
• New Pneus
• Oliver's
• Round the Corner
• St Michael's Mount
• Seven Years
• Spaghetti Panic
• The Bay Tree
• The History Man
• The RSB
• The Walled Garden Waltz
• There are Angels
• Two Beers
• Waltz Harry Lane
• Waiting for Janet

Partial discography

His recordings include

• Vanilla (Blowzabella) - Special Delivery - SPDCD 1028 (1990)
• Chris Wood & Andy Cutting - RUF Records RUFCD01
• Lisa (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD02
• Live at Sidmouth (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD03
• Lusignac (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD04
• Half as happy as we (Two Duos Quartet) - RUF Records RUFCD07
• Knock John (Wood & Cutting) - RUF Records RUFCD08
• A new tradition (Tanteeka) - Osmosys Records OSMO CD013 (1997)
• Panic at the Café (Andy Cutting and Nigel Eaton, 1993) - Beautiful Jo Records BEJOCD-27 (1999)
• Ca' Nôs (Fernhill) - Beautiful Jo Records BJOCD-14
• Llatai (Fernhill) - Beautiful Jo Records BJOCD-23
• Whilia (Fernhill) - Beautiful Jo Records BJOCD-30
• Cast a bell (1651) - Beautiful Jo Records BEJOCD-33 (2001)
• One Roof Under (Tweed & Cutting) - Fyasco Records FYC004 (2002)
• Across the Waters (contributor, with Karen Tweed and others) - Nimbus NI5415 (1994)
• Pandemonium (Nigel Eaton) - Beautiful Jo Records BEJOCD-39
• 10 (Kate Rusby) - Pure Records PRCD10 (2002)
• Apples (June Tabor) - Topic Records TSCD 568
• Hold Your Horses (Ella Edmondson) — Monsoon MONMUCD001 (2009)

Books

• Blowzabella - New Tunes for Dancing (by Andy Cutting, Nigel Eaton, Jo Freya, Paul James, Ian Luff, Cliff Stapleton, David Shepherd, Jon Swayne), Blowzabella, Glastonbury (2004) ISBN 0-9549013-0-4

External links

• Andy Cutting's own website
• Blowzabella
• Beautiful Jo Records
• Fernhill