What’s Goin’ On?
September 2008: Just back from the 25th Donau Insel Fest in Wien, where Andy and the other Pickets had fun in the sunshine with 60,000 new friends on Sun 7th Sept. Last November's concert at the Avo Sessions was shown on Swiss TV in August, and is due on 3Sat in Germany on Friday 12th Sept. It's also likely to be repeated at least once soon after that, so keep your eyes open!
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August 2008: Now that the new CD is completed and on sale (did we mention that yet?), Andy is currently spending time in between Pickets shows completely re-fitting and upgrading the studio, ready for work to begin on more tracks in the next few months... more details to come...
Spring 2008: It's here! After two years of waiting, the Flying Pickets new CD 'Big Mouth' hits shops (and concerts!) on April 25th. Andy's produced and sings lead on 3 of the final tracks, one of which, 'Lullaby' is also an Andy original. We'll try and get some clips up on the Audio page as soon as possible. In the meantime, it's available to download from iTunes, or to buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de, or HMV, Zavvi (Virgin), and even Tesco Online in the UK.
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January/February 2008: Happy New Year! Andy's now finished his work on the new Flying Pickets CD, which will be called 'Big Mouth'; it's been mixed, mastered and should be in shops by the beginning of April. If you can't wait that long, come to one of the Pickets shows in Switzerland in March, where we'll have a special pre-release version on sale!
November/December 2007: Here's some great pictures of a recent Pickets gig at the Avo Sessions in Basel; if you're in Germany, Switzerland or Austria look out for the gig which is due to be shown on 3Sat TV sometime soon. More details imminent on the upcoming Pickets CD too...
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September/October 2007: So the autumn saw a few more Flying Pickets shows around Germany, marking the end (for now!) of the Changing Times tour; and a lot more time has been spent recently back in the Studio- after an enforced pause, work has restarted again on the Pickets (long-awaited) CD... but more on that soon.
July/August 2007: June saw Andy in northern Germany with the Pickets, for the opening of the 125th Kieler Woche for an audience of 12,000- have a look at these pictures... Here on the site, we've been busy updating the show reviews section of the Press pages. If you've read one we haven't seen yet, why not email it to us? infoATandylaycockDOTcom.
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May/June 2007: Over the coming months Andy will be running more workshops, with topics covering acappella group singing techniques, lead vocals, stage presentation, recording your group and lots more. If you'd like your group to benefit from Andy's years of experience at the highest levels, start by finding out if your choice of date is still available... email workshopsATandylaycockDOTcom.
In the meantime, check out these pics of the Pickets recent May show in Zalec in Slovenia!
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March/April 2007: March has been very hectic with the Pickets Spring Tour, but with that now completed, Andy's overhauled the Studio and been producing tracks for one or two other groups. Here on the website, check out the new page in the Photos section, where we've added some short video clips of the Pickets, which we've been sent from YouTube...
January/February 2007: Happy New Year! Now that the Flying Pickets new anniversary show is up and running, Andy's spent time in January continuing work on the group's new CD. The Pickets 2007 tour gets underway in Nürnberg (with Andy's friends Viva Voce) on 20th Feb- see the full gig calendar here.
December 2006: Andy's finishing off a very busy 2006 with a few Flying Pickets shows in Germany and Spain, and also Austria on New Year's Eve. The Spanish show, at the Sala Galileo in Madrid, is being recorded by the national Spanish station TVE for broadcast on January 7th. So look out for that if you're in Spain!
October/November 2006: This Autumn sees Andy on tour with the Flying Pickets new show 'Changing Times', which got underway in October. Check out these new pictures, and the others in the Photo Gallery, of the first shows in Germany. There are some new recent reviews and comments on the Press pages... and check out the new improved Buy section for some new shiny iTunes downloads!
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August/September 2006: Check out the new (and old!) stuff in the Buy section (at last the full shop's on the way!); there's new pictures on the Photos pages; and there's a whole bunch of new "Changing Times" shows just been added to the Tour Schedule. And lots more of everything to come soon...
July 2006: As promised, here's some new pictures we've been sent, of Andy performing with the Pickets for 60,000 people at the Donau Insel Fest in Wien at the end of June. Were you there too?! And here's that 'Changing Times' poster we mentioned, look out for it on a wall near you soon! And just one more thing...here's another little surprise...
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June 2006: The publicity's starting to go out; it's not a secret anymore. The Flying Pickets 25th Anniversary stage show will be called 'Changing Times' and will be touring from the Autumn onwards. Rehearsals are underway, songs are being arranged, Andy's spent much too long working on a poster design, and it's generally far too busy! And there's some new photos on the way... On the subject of design, Andy's also recently been commissioned to design other logos, flyers, and cards. For more info on how to get Andy to design your project, email designATandylaycockDOTcom.
May 2006: Just back from a great tour of Slovakia- thanks again to Close Harmony Friends and Free Voices! The rest of May is taken up with more recording and editing tracks for the Pickets new CD. There are still a few remaining dates available in June and July for workshops- check workshops section for more info. What else? Well, there are some updates here to the gig calendar.
April 2006: Although work on the Pickets new CD is not yet complete, Andy will be running more performance workshops between now and July. Look here for more info on many of the things Andy's recent workshops have covered. To ask about a specific date for you or your group, email infoATandylaycockDOTcom.
Here's a reminder of last summer... some more pictures taken by Ric Badal at the Bardentreffen in Nürnberg back in July 2005... Ric also took many of the other photos right here on this very website!
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March 2006: Just heard that EMI records in the UK are re-releasing 'Only You - The Best of the Flying Pickets' on Monday 6th March, which coincides with the Pickets tour of Switzerland which starts on the 9th March. If you want to buy a copy, the catalogue no. is TPM100 in the UK, or 3559962 in the rest of Europe. Here's what to look out for... Meanwhile, for more info on the live dates in Switzerland, look here!
February 2006: The new songs are in the Pickets German shows this month; they all went down very well in Holland a couple of weeks ago. More updates to the Pickets Tour schedule- just confirmed is the first Pickets mini-tour of Slovakia in April and May. Looking forward to that!
January 2006: The New Year is well and truly underway; Andy's already completed his new arrangements for the Flying Pickets shows; and after several days of rehearsals in London, the Pickets are starting their 2006 Tour on the 27th of this month. Catch up with the latest information on the 2006 Tour which has just been added to the Dates page.
December 2005: As well as fitting in a few more workshops, Andy is spending most of this month recording, editing, and producing tracks for the Flying Pickets CD and new show. Rehearsals for the new show start in January, so there's a lot to do before Christmas. Thanks to everyone who's sent us messages of encouragement, we really appreciate them! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
November 2005: The end of the Flying Pickets' autumn tour came in Luzern- two days at the Stadtkeller, where we met many familiar faces, and some new (hi Alois!)... we're really looking forward to returning in March with lots of new material. Check out the Dates section, we've just updated it with all the new Pickets spring shows.
Andy's also been busy in London recording tracks for the new Pickets CD. There's one or two more sessions planned for December, and it's already sounding good- and still on course for it's release in the spring.
October 2005: This month sees
Andy busy touring Germany with the Pickets. Starting on the 20th,
we’ll be on the road till the end of the month. Check out
the Dates page for the full itinerary.
As well as a new CD, next year also sees a new Pickets stage show-
it’s going to be different from anything we’ve ever
done before! We’ll keep you updated.
September 2005: Fresh from
his lightning tour of the USA, Andy’s back into preproduction
for the Flying Pickets upcoming CD. Due to the band’s various
other commitments, recording sessions have had to be put back
to November and December.
August 2005:
Latest news – After many requests to do so, Andy is now
running more performance workshops between now and 2006, in between
Flying Pickets shows. For more info on how Andy can help you and
your group, check out the Workshops section.
Want to check Andy’s availability right now? Email: infoATandylaycockDOTcom
July 2005: The Pickets continued
this summer with a few gigs… Saturday July 30th was a great
show in Nürnberg. According to the organisers of the Bardentreffen,
there were over 30,000 people watching the Pickets Open Air in
the Hauptplatz. Here’s some pictures we’ve been sent….
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June 2005: As well as the live
gigs, preparation for the Flying Pickets’ new CD is taking
up a lot of Andy’s time. We are currently working on pre
production of several songs, with recording sessions both in Germany
and in London planned for the Autumn. The new CD is due to be
released in the Spring of 2006 on Inakustik Records, with distribution
all over Europe. Our last studio CD, ‘Everyday’, which
was released in January (also on Inakustik), seems to have been
very well received. Check out the Press section for reviews etc.
Everyday was also runner-up Best Pop/Rock Album in the CARA Awards
in the USA.
May 2005: Andy has recently
been arranging songs for other groups; there’s a couple
of clips on the Audio section. If you’d like him to arrange
(or re-arrange!) a song for your group, send us an email: infoATandylaycockDOTcom
April 2005: The Pickets latest
CD ‘Everyday’ has been nominated for Best Pop/Rock
album at the CARA Awards. Nice to be appreciated!
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