'

'The moon is asleep, she is blind...'

He came to Edinburgh from Glasgow by the long road, through Dundee and Fife. But he never wrote a road song until he found Ontario.

'Here she comes, that sweet road again, all tarmac and miles.'

He rode up through Ontario to Quebec in the back of an open top, with a case of beer, some smokes and a couple of friends, and all he could see ahead or behind was road, tarmac vanishing into blue, endless sky.
Life changing...

Andy Lang met George in Ottawa, and an old First Nation guy with a crazy dog called Peaches. Came close to a fist fight, over the wearing of a 'skirt' (a kilt - wedding duty that day) but good sense and heavy drinking prevailed, and friends were made.

George kept showing up at Andy's gigs and talked him into staying in town a few extra days to play a block party. George talked like Waits after an all-night poker game and gave the impression that his days were numbered.

Anyhow, he kicked Andy's arse and told him to get his songs recorded, sooner's always better than later, and 10 months later, LETTERS TO JUDAS was born.

'Hit that dead man's curve, just to see if you can steer.'

1991, LITTLE GREEN MONKEYS, 'Crisis In The Treehouse'; an album with fiddler Mhairi O'Neil; it was kind of 'punk folk'; had 'more affinity with The Sex Pistols than with Jeannie Robertson' according to The Scotsman. No word of a lie!

'I got a hungry spirit and a restless heart and a fire inside of me.'

He added slide guitar and fiddle, peddle steel and piano; electric guitars and accordion, drums and bass, percussion and mandolin. Vocals from Inge McIlroy and hazel Morrison (ex-Bathers) and everything between country and rock, bluegraas, folk and Americana. And Southern Cross is haunted by Rory Campbell's Border pipes. These are people songs, tales of lost love and disenchantment, loneliness and the road.

'He'd sit and stare at the wreck of an old car, wonder if he could live there, wonder if he could sleep there, wonder what she'd say.'

There's been plenty of national airplay, and a live appearance on BBC Radio Scotland's Arts Show.

'Do you know how to dance, do you know how to spin, do you know how to rock and how to reel?'

Andy Lang played Edinburgh's Queen's Hall with a host of other musicians in December 2003, dueting with Karine Polwart on Shane McGowan's Fairytale of New York. The gig went out live on BBC on Christmas Day 2003, repeated on New Year's Day 2004.
It was recorded by Connecticut's Green Linnet label and released under the title COLD BLOW THESE WINTER WINDS. It features two tracks from Andy, including his own Lullaby.

'She was on the phone, crying a river of tears into a river of piss that was shining on the stone..'

Work's begun on a second album, working title STEPS, rawer, more stripped down, more electric.
Some Edinburgh tales of lust, romance and strangeness, grunge poetry.

'Your cousin's second cousin, she's called Sweet Marie, they say she's full of honey, but I don't think she's sweet on me...'

The Zealots recently became a more compact, 4-piece line up, known as The Well, but solo gigs happen too, as well as duo and trio line ups, whatever works for the occasion..

Andy opened for Irvine Welsh with a solo set during The Leith Festival 2005.

'I made a telephone call to Bernie boy
He's got 2000 dollar teeth
He picked up in a phone booth
Out on Davis St
He talks just like a brother of mine
Full of sweet relief
And I'm stuck between where I've been
And a state of disbelief...'

Discography

Album LETTERS TO JUDAS released July 2004 on independent label. Have just recorded charity single GENTLE (SHADOW OF THE SUN) and are working on a second album, working title STEPS. As a soloist, I also appear on Green Linnet Records' COLD BLOW THESE WINTER WINDS  album, recorded live at Edinburgh's Queens Hall in December 2003. The concert was broadcast live by BBC Radio Scotland on Christmas Day 2003 and New Years Day 2004. The album features myself performing Shane McGowan's FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK with KARINE POLWART and also my own song LULLABY.

We get regular national airplay and also a fair bit of internet play. Songs broadcast include LULLABY, FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK, TATTOO, ANOTHER LIGHT, NOT YOUR MAN, SOUTHERN CROSS, LETTER TO JUDAS, MATTERS OF THE HEART, QUEEN OF THE SOUTH, ED'S DEAD and GENTLE.

LETTERS TO JUDAS is available from Coda Music, Avalanche and Vinyl Villains of Edinburgh. LETTERS TO JUDAS is also available to purchase securely on-line from this site.

Also at www.tradmusic.com and www.cdbaby.net
Contact: andy@andylang.co.uk
Phone: 0788 686 2557