Biography Andy Coats was born and raised in North Carolina and has been interested in music since his early teens. He became enamored with Led Zeppelin and other "classic rock" bands at about age 13. His first efforts at performing and writing consisted of a short stint singing for a hard rock band and then later with a progressive rock band. During this time, he contributed lyrics to the original material performed by the bands and, after picking up the guitar, he began to write music as well. "This really helped to improve my ear, my sense of melody and harmony, and my overall musicality," Andy says.
		From there he worked his way back to the genres in which so much classic rock is rooted--folk and the blues. "My passion for this sort of music began in my late teens, when I was a huge Dylan fan, but really came to a head in my mid-20s. I was living in Southern California, struggling through graduate school, and it was only then that the magic of the blues masters fully hit me. I dove head first into Robert Johnson's material, listening to it daily.
	There was also a great weekend blues show, "Nothin But the Blues", on radio station KLON (at Long Beach State Univ.). I have fond memories of listening all day, picking up my guitar, and jamming along.This helped me get through some tough years ... . As a student I made almost no money, and I felt my career prospects were pretty bleak--there were very few teaching jobs available, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy is not exactly the most marketable degree ... . For these reasons I came to identify with the blues, although I will be the first to admit that the kind of problems I had were nowhere near as immediate and urgent as those of the classic blues singers." After completing his degree in 1999 and relocating to Des Moines, Iowa, Andy was better able to focus his attention on his music. It was then that he began recording what would become his debut CD release, "Haiku Rainfall." See the Discography page for details about the disc. In July of 2003, Andy returned to Southern California, where he first felt the full power of the blues and where he plans to take his career to the next level. So far he has been quite successful, having been selected as one of the top 12 blues acts in Southern California (by the Southern California Blues Society--Regional Blues Challenge). He has also opened for national-level acts such as Eric Sardinas, and Handy Award winners Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers.