Aylesbury Vale man releases first ever music album at 65 after chance meeting with producer
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A man from Aylesbury Vale achieved a lifelong ambition of recording his own music album after a chance meeting with a successful producer.
Andy Gray from Quainton, recognised a producer he was first aware of growing up in the Aylesbury Vale music scene decades earlier, overseas.
Andy met Chris France in the Gibraltar by chance, and realised this producer he first met in the 80s, lived just down the road from him in Portugal.
Living near to one another in the Iberian Peninsula, the two became friends with Chris giving Andy the ultimate 65th birthday gift. He offered to fund and organise for Andy to record his first ever music album, alongside his playing partner, Tim Holmes.
Now, Juke Joint Blues’s album, Rockin in the Sun, is widely available to purchase and can be found on Apple Music and Amazon.
Andy said: “I haven’t done anything like this before, I’m 66 this year, so this year I’ve effectively been messing with bands for 50 years. And to do it, it’s just amazing, an amazing feeling.”
Prior to their reunion in Portugal, Andy had known Chris as the promoter he used to pester for playing time in Aylesbury Vale. But since then, Chris has gone on to flourish in the music industry. He is the managing director of an independent company called, Music of Life, and is credited with helping Prince achieve his first UK number one.
Andy has been a lifelong musician and started playing in bars and local venues from a young age in the Aylesbury area. Initially, he thought he might stop performing to audiences when he moved overseas in his mid-40s, but soon found himself drawn back in to the buzz of performing live.
It was through a journey to meet up with a fellow musician from Aylesbury, John Otway, that Chris and Andy got reacquainted.
After the chance run -in, the two went out for dinners together with their partners, and Chris started attending some of Andy’s gigs.
Juke Joint Blues, are inspired by old classic bands within the genre and perform sounds similar to that of pioneers like Jimmy Reed and Willie Dixon, they also list the Rolling Stones and Dr Feelgood as influences.