For over forty years Andy has been a professional musician and teacher. He has performed thousands of shows, taught many hundreds of people to play guitar or mandolin, and instructed extensively in the areas of performance and visual art. Andy has been Artist-in-Residence in elementary and junior high schools in Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, and he has led seminars in creativity and in programming for youth at music festivals. Underlying his in-the-field teaching experience is Andy's own education: he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a degree in Art Education.
In addition to private instruction, Andy currently teaches guitar, mandolin, and jamming group workshops, including Jamming 101 at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, and brings his music to schools. He has developed a variety of other kinds of educational workshops through the years, as well. His Acoustic Kids workshop has been a much-loved feature at Winfield since 1990. This educational program provides youngsters with performance opportunities and instructional workshops. The workshops cover various aspects of music and professional musicianship, informing youngsters and their families about the realities of life as a professional musician, and focusing on topics such as performance skills and lifestyle. Andy started a similar program at MerleFest in 2003.
Another of Andy’s most-requested workshops is the Roots of Bluegrass. This narrated audio journey of recorded music takes the listener from the earliest commercial recordings of country music right through the development and birth of classic bluegrass, as defined by Bill Monroe, “the Father of Blue Grass Music”, and his quintessential Blue Grass Boys band of 1946.
Although Andy enjoys teaching students of all levels, he particularly loves working with beginners who are passionate about learning their instrument. He loves giving tham a solid framework that will free them to keep learning and advancing even when they are not actively taking lessons, and he loves watching them "get it" as they progress.
Andy's easygoing, common sense approach to teaching is rooted in his background in developmental learning and his interest in creative problem solving. He believes that within each person there lies the possibility of positive creative expression, and he creates the environment and gives folks access to the tools they need to explore their creative path.