Andrew Durant (musician)
| Andrew Durant | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Andrew MacLeish Durant |
| Born | 1954 |
| Origin | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Died | 1980 (aged 25–26) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Genres | Country rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, harmonica, vocals, mandolin |
| Years active | 1972–1979 |
| Associated acts | Astra Kahn, Stars |
| Notable instruments | |
| Andy's Mandolin | |
Andrew MacLeish Durant (2 October 1954 – 6 May 1980) was an Australian musician-songwriter. He was a member of country rock group Stars (1976–79) providing guitar, harmonica, and backing vocals. He was also a session and backing musician for a range of artists. He died of cancer, aged 25. On 19 August 1980 a tribute performance was held in his honour, with a live double-album recorded by various artists, Andrew Durant Memorial Concert, which was released on 9 March 1981. All but three tracks were written by Durant. It peaked at No. 8 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and reached No. 40 on the End of Year Top 100 Albums Chart for 1981.
Andrew MacLeish Durant was born in 1954. Durant grew up in an Adelaide beach suburb with an older sister who was in a "very folkie vocal group – she had a stunning voice". He attended Brighton High School, alongside his girlfriend, Bronte Seidel. In 1968 Durant was inspired by his copy of The Band's debut album, Music from Big Pink. In 1972 on lead guitar he founded a group, Astra Kahn, in Adelaide which included Glyn Dowding on drums, Malcolm Eastick on guitar and vocals and Wayne Gibson on bass. By 1974 the group disbanded when Durant left Australia to travel overseas. Meanwhile Dowding, Eastick and Gibson formed a hard rock covers band, Flash, which in May 1975 became the country rock band, Stars.
In August 1976 Durant was back in Australia and joined Stars, which had relocated to Melbourne and, alongside Dowding and Eastick, included Mick Pealing on lead vocals (ex-Flight, Nantucket, Flash) and Graham Thompson on bass guitar. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, Durant "added a great deal to the band's strengths, becoming the major songwriter in the group". He wrote their third single, "Mighty Rock" (August 1977), which peaked at No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.
Durant also wrote "Look After Yourself" (November), which became Stars' highest charting single at No. 21. The group's debut album, Paradise, appeared in January the following year. Durant wrote seven of its ten tracks, including two further singles, "Back Again" (April 1978) and "West is the Way" (June). In June 1979 they issued their second studio album, Land of Fortune, by that time Durant had been diagnosed with melanoma. Stars' last gig on 18 October 1979, at the Bombay Rock Hotel, was recorded for their live album, 1157. Andrew Durant died of his cancer on 6 May 1980, aged 25.
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