Biography & Photos

Born Andrew Dunlea on August 26th 1968, the youngest of 13 siblings, with a rare condition known
as Prune Belly Syndrome and with a medical record number of 7016, this particular journey was
never going to run smooth. At age 7, very much inspired by his older brother Patsy, he discovered
that music and guitar, in particular, could make his thoughts and heart travel miles away from
hospitals and all that came with them and so began the journey of DREW #PROJECT7016.

Taking the name Andy Dunne while playing at a local club in Cork City, Ireland at age 15 meant
Andrew's illness was no longer the big picture and Andy was free to roam the highways, mountains and streams of music. His life long love.

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           His earliest performances were played to full houses, playing support to acts such as Big Country,           Midge Ure, Guy Clark, Mary Black, Jimmy MacCarthy, The FleadhCowboys, Freddie White, Philip Donnelly and so on. This was the best "education" he could ever get. Andy was busy every week learning songs specifically to suit the next audience. This led to him having a very large choice of material.  Gold for any cover artist.

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This exposure meant Andy was invited to join various Bands over the late 80's and early 90's. This
included being lead singer and acoustic guitar player with Irish folk and trad legend Davey Arthur
from '91 to '93.

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Andy remembers " That was such an amazing time, I was a kid for god sake! When I was offered the job with Davey...Man..., that was on another level".
After touring with Davey, Andy started to focus on the Irish Pub scene which was really taking off in
Germany. He was asked to play at the opening of a friends new bar in Hamburg. So began a love
affair with a country he still tours in concert today, both solo and as part of Irish Folk group Galleon.
For a number of years he's been holding a Monday night residency in one of Cork's premier music venues
The Oliver Plunket and has been a constant on the Munster entertainment scene throughout the years.

 

A collection of reflections on life's losses, blessings, lessons, stop signs and learnings;
DREW #PROJECT7016 brings together many years of survival and gratitude. Each song was
written during one hospital stay or another and captures a different time, place and mood.
It also reflects the many musical genres which have influenced Andy.

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"DREW #PROJECT7016 my first album of original songs has been in the works for along time. It's a lot more than a dream come true for me to finally send these songs out into the world.  I want as many people as possible to hear them and hopefully relate in some small way to their light and shade".