andy piercy

Andrew Piercy was born on 25th May, 1951, and educated at Bushy Hill Primary School, and Guildford Royal Grammar School, where he played in various garage bands. His early musical influences were the sounds of sixties pop, such as the Dave Clark Five and Manfred Mann. He got a scooter, and become a Mod, and would regularly go dancing, developing a love for Soul music.

After finishing his 'O' levels, Piercy left school and began an apprenticeship with the GPO, with the intention of becoming a telephone engineer.

He first met Ian Smale during a party at Smale's house, which adjoined an old mill in Petsworth. The party had been typically intoxicating, and the following morning, both had gone out to the mill for some fresh air. They began to talk, during which Andy revealed that he could play guitar. Smale went back into the house and returned with an old acoustic guitar, which he handed over to Andy. Smale was impressed as Andy proceeded to pick out the Bert Janch instrumental Angie.

Piercy's life changed completely, however, when at eighteen, he became a Christian. Up to that point, his guitar style had been influenced by Blues, but with his new-found faith, he now had something joyful to sing about, and consequently, his playing changed from the heavy style it had been, to something more uplifting. He began to write songs in this new 'Gospel' style.

They met on only a few occasions during the next year. Significantly, they met again during a Baptist youth weekend at Elim Bible College. Smale had been a committed Christian for some time, but Piercy had been more stubborn, periodically committing himself, then, retreating from it again. However, by the time he met Smale again at Elim, he had fully embraced Christianity with some fervour, much to Smale's delight.

They soon began to work on projects together, the first being a nativity play called Emmanuel. This was a major production, staged in a theatre on Littlehampton's seafront, and held on the two nights prior to Christmas 1970. But Ian wanted to work further afield, so under the name Ishmael, he placed an ad in the January 1971 edition of Buzz magazine, promoting himself as a solo artist, describing himself as a Contemporary Gospel Folk Singer, based at his home address in Rustington.

Andy decided to leave his job at the GPO only a few months before he would have completed his apprenticeship as a technician. He firmly believed that it was what God wanted him to do, but his parents were rather distraught. They referred several ministers to Andy, who all advised him to complete his training so that he would have something to fall back on. Nevertheless, Andy's convictions were strong, and he eventually left his job. Together with Ian, they attended a Youth for Christ conference, where they both felt that God wanted them to work together. On 1st May, 1971, Ishmael & Andy was formed.

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