Since moving to New Orleans in the early 90s, mild-mannered Englishman Bob Andrews has established himself as one of the city’s top pianists, a favorite sidekick of local stalwarts John Mooney, Alex McMurray and Johnny Sansone. 30 years earlier, a fledgling Andrews found himself at the center of Britain’s burgeoning pub rock scene, taking up arms with fellow upstarts guitarist Brinsley Schwarz, bassist Nick Lowe and drummer Billy Rankin in Kippington Lodge as the promising group transformed into the genre-defining outfit Brinsley Schwarz. His fingers were the ones that the raucous Lee Brilleaux and Dr. Feelgood dialed when recording the underground classics Down by the Jetty and Malpractice. But it wasn’t until the late ’70s that the hot-handed sideman saw his due, playing a formative role in Graham Parker and the Rumor. In 1979, the band’s fifth record Squeezing Out the Sparks garnered international praise en route to solidifying its place among the era’s best. Since, Andrews’ keys have graced over 1000 recordings, most notably, Marianne Faithful’s 2010 effort Horses and High Heels.

These days, Andrews is back to his old antics, striking up sparks and touring in a recently reformed Graham Parker and the Rumor. The band’s November release Three Chords Good marks the original group’s first since 1980; the cult-favorites even scored a spot in the soon-to-be-released Judd Apatow flick This Is 40. In November, Andrews delivered Invisible Love, a concept album accompanied by a book of the same name that picks up up the tale of Marigny-dwelling black Labs Guzzard and Mr. Poo from where he partner RKR’s similarly-themed April project Shotgun left off. As busy as he’s ever been, the low-key pianoman has been on quite a roll… and that’s no small rumor.

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