Some musicians grow into the blues. Andrew “Six String” Sullivan was born into it.
Growing up in Vancleave, Mississippi, Andrew received a toy guitar at age 3 and his first real guitar at 6 — and from that moment, there was no turning back. His parents recognised something special early, and by the time he was six, his father was already taking him on regular trips to Clarksdale — the spiritual home of the Delta blues — where he absorbed real guitar licks from authentic Delta blues artists in the clubs and juke joints that shaped the genre.
At just 13 years old, Andrew walked up to blues legend Buddy Guy at a Rock Legends cruise ship and told him he wanted to play onstage. Buddy Guy said yes. What followed was a masterclass in front of a live audience — trading solos, singing Buddy’s own song “Ms. Ida B” back to him, and holding his own note for note with one of the greatest guitarists alive. “He traded solos with me,” Andrew recalled, “which was like getting a guitar lesson in front of a thousand people.”
Since then, Andrew has become a fixture on the Mississippi Gulf Coast music scene — performing regularly at Ground Zero Blues Club Biloxi, playing festivals across the region, and joining the prestigious Coast Big Band (a 20-piece orchestra) where he holds a guitar chair alongside professional horn players. He also fronts the band Test Drive with twin brothers Kaden and Jaden Bilbo (bass and keys) and drummer Brody Hyde, playing everything from old-school blues to soul to rock.
His influences span generations: Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Eric Gales, Stevie Wonder, Cheap Trick (who have let him play with them multiple times), and Dionne Warwick. He is a musician without genre walls — only a deep, honest love for the music.
Now, Andrew “Six String” Sullivan carries the weight of the Delta in his fingers and the fire of the Gulf Coast in his voice. He is not chasing the blues — the blues found him in a living room in Vancleave, followed him to the juke joints of Clarksdale, and pushed him onto a stage with Buddy Guy before most kids his age had ever held a guitar. Whatever comes next, one thing is already clear: Mississippi has another story worth telling, and Six String Andrew is only on the first verse.
