When Andy Nelson made the decision nearly five years ago to dial back his work as an electrician and pursue a career in music, little would he have known then that he'd become one of the Central West's most recognisable musicians.
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Last year, Nelson not only performed his first ever shows in Victoria and Queensland, but he recorded and released his debut album, Man on the Mountain.
It was a year that kept Nelson busy from start to finish.
"I played nearly 100 gigs last year, and it was rare there was a weekend where I wasn't performing somewhere," he said.
"A key goal of mine was to perform more festival dates last year, and I felt incredibly thankful that so many festivals were willing to take me on."
Some of Nelson's noteworthy gigs included the National Folk Festival in Canberra, the Gympie Music Muster in Queensland and a week-long tour of Melbourne.
But through his dedicated gigging schedule, Nelson found time to record and release Man on the Mountain, which was launched in front of a sold-out audience at The Victoria Bathurst in June.
"Bathurst has such a supportive crowd for original music and their presence is the reason we, as artists, continue to pursue our craft," he said.
"I was quite nervous about the album launch at first, but the crowd helped me feel at home."
To date, Man on the Mountain has spawned two singles: the title track and 'Late Night Letter,' with music videos produced for both songs.
For 'Late Night Letter,' Nelson enlisted the directional services of Andrew Flakelar, who has produced projects for the likes of Madonna, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and James Blunt.
"We worked on the music video for months and filmed the entire thing in Portland, with the shoot starting in the early afternoon and finishing at 7am the next morning," he said.
"I was hanging around in Portland when I started to write the song, and it inspired me to tell the story of a family in a small town dealing with the effects of industrial downturn."
Nelson's 2020 is shaping up to be just as busy, with debut gigs in Tasmania and Western Australia on the cards in the coming months.
"I'm looking forward to playing more shows with a live band, as I've started to have friends like Amy Viola, Pandora Holliday and Jon Wilby accompany me at gigs," he said.
"Now the first record's out of the way, I hope to get some new songs together for a potential second album in 2021, but I intend to take my time with this one."