Sticking to what he does best. . .
HE will never get a hit record cutting Webb Pierce songs, but then pandering to the marketing men has never been high on Andy Fairweather Low's agenda.
The kind of musician whose work makes you think of Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed and Lonnie Johnson right from the opening bars, he isn't too concerned about swimming against the tide, if that means he can play the kind of music that still gives him a 1,000 volt jolt.
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He plugs in at Pontardawe Arts Centre on October 28, with The Low Riders, a band of old hands who share that same bottom line with him — if it makes you do an emotional double take it is good music. If it feels like work it isn't working.
His latest disc, Lively, captures the spice and charm of the band live, easing their way through Slim Harpo, Henry Mancini and Lightnin' Hopkins numbers and with Webb's song Slowly being a particular sparkler.
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Andy says: "You're right, I won't get a hit with Webb Pierce numbers, but I just love those songs.
"I have a film of him performing, wearing those garish, awful outfits, but singing those incredible songs.
"I don't perform his There Stands the Glass but it is one of the greatest country ballads and I admit I have stolen that line of his for one of mine."
The former teen idol with Amen Corner, an Ystrad Mynach lad, Andy has carved a niche for himself as bandleader and guitar player in Eric Clapton's crew, among others, while hitting the road with The Low Riders when he gets half a chance.
And he says being free of the expectations which came with his early pop stardom, is a much more comfortable place to be.
"With The Low Riders we don't do something unless we love it and unless we can do it justice.
"And we find it so easy performing together because it is fun. I'm not sure why we come off stage so bruised and battered, but it is fun.
"The band is so good that they don't just play a number, they own it. So I can just drift over the top of what they do, imagining I am Kenny Burrell and letting Nick Pentelow,the real musician in the band, play an incredible solo.
"When I listen to those people I love, like Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles, they still sound as good and as exciting to me as they did 40-odd years ago and I think that is the way music should be."
That attitude does wonders for the quality control, though it does mean we'll have to wait a little longer for his imminent studio album Zone-O-Tone, which debuts all new material.
"It is nearly there but there are a few things I want to have a closer listen to and go back to.
"There is no point putting something out there that isn't as good as the last one, Sweet Soulful Music. I want it to be better."
The live shows will feature a scant measure of the new tracks, while Lively will be for sale at the gigs.
"I remember going to see the Elton John show when he decided to play the whole Captain Fantastic album from start to finish and you could see people leaving in their hundreds, so I won't be doing that.
"I will play the ones we love and the ones people know. And I am at the stage now where I can take my time with an album.
"Back when I started out I was excited about doing the next album, or at least I was able to convinced myself I was excited about it, but then it got to the stage when you had just put out one and the label was pushing for the next one.
"I'm just not that kind of musician.
"I remember touring Be Bop 'N' Holla and I got halfway through a song at the end of the set and I realised it had exactly the same chords as the song I started the night with."
"I'm not sure it's even the case that I write when I have something to say. I am always looking to write a short one that is my Don't Fight It, by Wilson Pickett.
"Or at least something close enough to its spirit to keep me happy."
The show starts at 7.30pm.
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