Andrea Lewis Jarvis

Andrea Lewis Jarvis, also known professionally as Andrea Lewis, is a Welsh singer, songwriter, actor, broadcaster and theatre educator. She is a co-founder and the lead vocalist of the indie pop band The Darling Buds, which she formed in Caerleon, near Newport, in 1986. After the band's original period, she worked in theatre and broadcasting and later co-founded the Children's Academy of Stage Training in Cardiff.

Early life

Andrea Lewis was born in Swansea in March 1967. She spent part of her childhood in Dorset before her family returned to Wales. She subsequently lived in Usk and attended Caerleon Comprehensive School.

Career

The Darling Buds

Lewis formed the Darling Buds with guitarist Geraint "Harley" Farr in 1986. The band initially released its music independently before receiving airplay from John Peel and signing with Epic Records.

Lewis Jarvis recalled that the band's first single was recorded at Loco Studios in Llanhennock and financed by guitarist Geraint "Harley" Farr, who worked at the studio. She said that John Peel subsequently played "Just to Be Seen", while Janice Long played "If I Said" on radio.

After graduating, she co-presented the Saturday morning BBC Radio Wales programme The Weekenders with Gareth "Gaz Top" Jones. In 2003, she played Maid Marian in Full House Theatre Company's touring production Secrets of Sherwood - The Legend of Robin Hood.

In 2004, Lewis Jarvis and actor Jamie Jarvis established the Children's Academy of Stage Training (CAST) in Cardiff. The school initially offered Saturday performing-arts classes for children aged between six and 16.

By 2015, she was the only founding member in the re-formed line-up, which had begun playing further headline shows and festivals.

The reunion subsequently developed into continuing live and recording activity.

In 2017, the band released the four-track Evergreen EP, its first collection of newly recorded material in more than 25 years. Lewis Jarvis later recalled that the members began writing songs together and decided to record them once several had been completed.