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Wildwood Andy Levesque grew up with music in the family, taking years of classical piano lessons, learning choral harmonies from his dad, and discovering the wonders of folk guitar from cousins and his oldest brother Greg. He enjoyed holiday gatherings where his Mom played stride piano for hours as their large extended family laughed and sang along to classics like Heart of My Heart, Bycicle Built for Two and Sidewalks of New York. For him, a great awakening began around 1959 while listening to Arnie "Woo-Woo" Ginsberg on WMEX in Boston, playing rock & roll radio -- like a beacon from mars, where hot licks and gorgeous melodies expressed feelings and dreams that were so vivid and powerful they HAD to come true. He formed his first group, a jug band called The Bananas for Lunch Bunch, in 1967 in high school together with his younger brother Jerry and some other glee club misfits, winning a talent show prize and igniting a lifelong passion for roots music and performing.

During two years as a DJ in college radio, he became an avid student of music in all its forms and styles, and began collecting recorded music from all over -- trying his hand at playing most of it, from jazzy acoustic fingerstyle to guitar raga space boogie and psychedelic blues. Jamaican Reggae captured his heart in the mid-seventies, and during the next ten years he helped guide a series of "Yankee Reggae" bands, the biggest of which was The Joppa Lions of Newburyport, MA, to some memorable musical heights, including an anti-nuke benefit that had footage of the band broadcast on national news, and a number of concerts opening for Jamaican bands of the day. Though he stopped actively gigging in 1984, he never stopped writing and recording at home, with the intent of getting back into the live music game when the time seemed right.

In the years since, many of Andy's performances were in the open mic poetry scene, where he developed a reputation as a unique and insightful nature poet. In 1995, a chapbook of poems, Walden Vision Quest was published by Mothwing Press. This connection with Walden Pond led to his founding and hosting a live poetry series for six years there at the famous home of Henry David Thoreau, father of the natural philosophy movement. Andy's spoken word recording of hos poeetry is called Wings of Wonder, and will be available soon.

In 1996, he began performing with Boston rock legend Gary Shane, playing harmonica in a series of bands -- the Silvertones, Felonious Monks and The Gary Shane Band.

In 1999, the first performance of the "Wildwood" sound took place at the Cambridge House of Blues, as part of John Cate's Americana Showcase. In that show, Andy sang and played guitars and banjo, with his brother Stevie on bass guitar. An auspicious location for a debut!

In 2000, the two brothers created MothwingMedia.com and MothwingArts.com -- the first, a small company offering photography, audio restoration, video and web design services -- the second, a popular internet portal for poetry and the visual arts. Both sites have continued to grow in scope and public response. You are invited to take a look for yourself. Please be sure to view the stunning digital art and photography .

Today, Andy's busy with a recording project with his brother Stevie, singing hamonies on a new cd of rocksteady and classic reggae. Stay tuned for more news on that front.

Still, his biggest passion is his return to musical performing as a solo artist and bandleader, and to the classic tradition of 1950's & 60's roots pop -- HAWAIIAN!!, rockabilly, rock & roll, R&B and folk.. To him, these roots are as deep and powerful as any in musical history, and since the era was one in which melody and songcraft ruled, he finds it a particularly satisfying field to cultivate. Listen to the natural way he works these timeless songs -- inhabiting the melody and emotion of each story with a voice that shows warmth, love and a storyteller's wit.

Check some of his original tunes HERE