Gwyn Ashton
Encyclopedia
Gwyn Ashton is a blues
/rock
guitarist
and singer-songwriter
.
, South Australia in the 1960s, picked up a guitar at 12 and at 16 started his musical journey, playing bars and festivals across the country.
He relocated to Sydney
in 1983, formed his own trio with drummers John Lalor (Heaven, The Beast, Swanee, Cheetah), Richard Harvey (Divinyls, Party Boys), John Watson (Australian Crawl, James Rayne, Daryl Braithwaite) and played stints with Swanee and Stevie Wright.
In 1991 he moved to Melbourne, recorded his first two albums "Feel The Heat" ('93) and "Beg, Borrow & Steel" ('96). During that time he also played with Jim Keays
, Mick Pealing and opened for Junior Wells
, Rory Gallagher
, Steve Morse
and Albert Lee
.
In 1996 Ashton relocated to Europe, picking up supports with BB King, Johnny Winter, The Yardbirds, Mick Taylor, Peter Green and Status Quo on their 15-date British arena tour in 1999. At this time he was distributed and marketed in France by Virgin records. In 1999 Ashton recorded "Fang It!" with Rory Gallagher's rhythm section Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O’Neill. At this time "Fang It!" and "Feel The Heat" were simultaneously on the Amazon Top 100 charts in France. He then replaced ex Motörhead/Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson in Band Of Friends, a memorial to Rory Gallagher with Rory's former sidemen Gerry, Brendan, Lou Martin, Mark Feltham and Ted McKenna. In 2001 French fans voted Ashton at number three position in Guitar Part magazine's Guitarist Of The Year poll with Jeff Beck and Gary Moore at first and second positions.
In 2006 Ashton recorded Prohibition (Album Of The Year - Guitar and Bass mag) with Chris Glen
(Sensational Alex Harvey Band), Ted McKenna
(Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Rory Gallagher
, Gary Moore
) and Don Airey
(Deep Purple
, Rainbow
, Whitesnake
).
With the demise of record labels and distributers in Britain, Ashton formed his own label and stripped the band down to a duo recording and releasing the album Two-Man Blues Army in 2009 with Dave Small on drums and percussion. Small's commitments elsewhere dictated Ashton to recruit drummer Kev Hickman. In 2011 they toured for 39 dates with Magnum across Europe, headlined the First Rio Blues Festival in Brazil and are constantly touring Europe.
Over the years Ashton has played onstage with Mick Fleetwood
, Hubert Sumlin
, Marc Ford
, Canned Heat
and has opened for Rory Gallagher
, Ray Charles
, Robin Trower
, Vanilla Fudge
, Wishbone Ash
, Van Morrison
, Jeff Healey
, Tony Joe White
, Johnny Winter
, Mick Taylor
, Peter Green
, John Hammond
and Pat Travers
.
"Australian-born UK resident compensates for a bass player deficit with superb technique and an array of swampy, edgy and high-octane, riff-based tunes – think Rory Gallagher jamming with the White Stripes.
Ashton also tears apart Hey Joe, Purple Haze and I Just Wanna Make Love To You, spitting out the bones and reassembling them as compelling, barely recognisable Frankenstein’s monsters.
This show is so entertaining that it’s tough to imagine any genuine fan of the blues, or of wider taste, failing to be bowled over by its immediacy and power." - Dave Ling - Classic Rock Nov 09
"This certainly belongs in 2009 and not back in the 1900s. It is fresh, has a hell of an edge to it and just demands your complete attention."
- Blues Matters (UK)
"This is blues/rock guitar assault of the highest order and I fu*king love it! Nine of the eleven tracks here are self-penned; the exceptions being incredible versions of Robert Johnson's 'Crossroad Blues' and Blind Willie Reynolds' 'Outside Woman Blues', both made famous by Cream, both blowing Cream's efforts clean out of the water." - Alan Jones, Get Ready To Rock - 2009
"Two-Man Blues Army is a masterclass in rocking garage blues, a feast of big riffs, killer guitar tones and searing vocals. More importantly, the record crackles with the raw, spontaneous energy of a live show, something often absent from many modern blues albums."
- Guitar Buyer
"The whole album of killer tunes represents a definite melding of traditional blues-meets-the-21st century."
- Gear
"A welcome tonic to the glut of perfectly produced vanity exercises that passes for modern blues these days. It’s a raucous sounding album that has plenty of credibility in a modern blues market full of mediocrity." - Guitarist
“This duo march into battle taking on every blues-rock trick in the book, successfully blasting them to a new level. No-nonsense, brutal and invigorating” - Guitar & Bass
"(Gwyn Ashton) blends the essences of Mississippi, New Orleans and Texas blues, 60s surf, British 70s rock and no-holds-barred Australian kick-ass boogie ... (He is) guaranteed to satisfy the most discriminating taste in guitar-led blues." (Review of his album "Prohibition" at CD Baby
)
"Prohibition is a strong, powerful and dark, energetic and charged with electricity Blues-Rock ... probably the best Blues/Rock album of 2006" (Review at Bluescat)
and Gary Moore
.
In 2007, his album Prohibiton was voted 'Album of the Year' by the British Guitar and Bass magazine.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
.
Biography
Welsh-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Gwyn Ashton migrated to AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia in the 1960s, picked up a guitar at 12 and at 16 started his musical journey, playing bars and festivals across the country.
He relocated to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1983, formed his own trio with drummers John Lalor (Heaven, The Beast, Swanee, Cheetah), Richard Harvey (Divinyls, Party Boys), John Watson (Australian Crawl, James Rayne, Daryl Braithwaite) and played stints with Swanee and Stevie Wright.
In 1991 he moved to Melbourne, recorded his first two albums "Feel The Heat" ('93) and "Beg, Borrow & Steel" ('96). During that time he also played with Jim Keays
Jim Keays
James "Jim" Keays is an Australian musician who fronted rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player during 1965–1972, and subsequently had a solo career including leading Jim Keays' Southern Cross...
, Mick Pealing and opened for Junior Wells
Junior Wells
Junior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
, Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
, Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
and Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
.
In 1996 Ashton relocated to Europe, picking up supports with BB King, Johnny Winter, The Yardbirds, Mick Taylor, Peter Green and Status Quo on their 15-date British arena tour in 1999. At this time he was distributed and marketed in France by Virgin records. In 1999 Ashton recorded "Fang It!" with Rory Gallagher's rhythm section Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O’Neill. At this time "Fang It!" and "Feel The Heat" were simultaneously on the Amazon Top 100 charts in France. He then replaced ex Motörhead/Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson in Band Of Friends, a memorial to Rory Gallagher with Rory's former sidemen Gerry, Brendan, Lou Martin, Mark Feltham and Ted McKenna. In 2001 French fans voted Ashton at number three position in Guitar Part magazine's Guitarist Of The Year poll with Jeff Beck and Gary Moore at first and second positions.
In 2006 Ashton recorded Prohibition (Album Of The Year - Guitar and Bass mag) with Chris Glen
Chris Glen
Christopher 'Chris' Glen is a Scottish bass guitarist who has played in The Jade, Tear Gas, The Party Boys, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and The Michael Schenker Group...
(Sensational Alex Harvey Band), Ted McKenna
Ted McKenna
Edward 'Ted' McKenna , is a Scottish drummer who has played with the bands Tear Gas, Rory Gallagher, The Party Boys, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and The Michael Schenker Group. He also toured with Ian Gillan for a short period alongside fellow former SAHB bassist, Chris Glen...
(Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
, Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
) and Don Airey
Don Airey
Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
(Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, Rainbow
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
).
With the demise of record labels and distributers in Britain, Ashton formed his own label and stripped the band down to a duo recording and releasing the album Two-Man Blues Army in 2009 with Dave Small on drums and percussion. Small's commitments elsewhere dictated Ashton to recruit drummer Kev Hickman. In 2011 they toured for 39 dates with Magnum across Europe, headlined the First Rio Blues Festival in Brazil and are constantly touring Europe.
Over the years Ashton has played onstage with Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
, Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic...
, Marc Ford
Marc Ford
Marc Ford , is an American blues-rock guitarist. He's a former lead guitarist of the rock and roll jam band The Black Crowes and the leader of his own bands .-Burning Tree:Ford began his career with the blues-rock outfit Burning...
, Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
and has opened for Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
, Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
, Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie"; "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and "Steamy Windows", a hit for Tina Turner in 1989...
, Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
, Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
, Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
, John Hammond
John P. Hammond
John Paul Hammond is an American blues singer and guitarist. The son of record producer John H. Hammond, he is sometimes referred to as "John Hammond, Jr.".-Background:...
and Pat Travers
Pat Travers
Patrick Henry "Pat" Travers is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career with Polydor Records in the mid-1970s...
.
Band
Ashton's current band 'Two-Man Blues Army' consists of Ashton on guitar and drummer Kev Hickman.Critics
"South Australia's greatest contribution to blues-rock." - billboard.com"Australian-born UK resident compensates for a bass player deficit with superb technique and an array of swampy, edgy and high-octane, riff-based tunes – think Rory Gallagher jamming with the White Stripes.
Ashton also tears apart Hey Joe, Purple Haze and I Just Wanna Make Love To You, spitting out the bones and reassembling them as compelling, barely recognisable Frankenstein’s monsters.
This show is so entertaining that it’s tough to imagine any genuine fan of the blues, or of wider taste, failing to be bowled over by its immediacy and power." - Dave Ling - Classic Rock Nov 09
"This certainly belongs in 2009 and not back in the 1900s. It is fresh, has a hell of an edge to it and just demands your complete attention."
- Blues Matters (UK)
"This is blues/rock guitar assault of the highest order and I fu*king love it! Nine of the eleven tracks here are self-penned; the exceptions being incredible versions of Robert Johnson's 'Crossroad Blues' and Blind Willie Reynolds' 'Outside Woman Blues', both made famous by Cream, both blowing Cream's efforts clean out of the water." - Alan Jones, Get Ready To Rock - 2009
"Two-Man Blues Army is a masterclass in rocking garage blues, a feast of big riffs, killer guitar tones and searing vocals. More importantly, the record crackles with the raw, spontaneous energy of a live show, something often absent from many modern blues albums."
- Guitar Buyer
"The whole album of killer tunes represents a definite melding of traditional blues-meets-the-21st century."
- Gear
"A welcome tonic to the glut of perfectly produced vanity exercises that passes for modern blues these days. It’s a raucous sounding album that has plenty of credibility in a modern blues market full of mediocrity." - Guitarist
“This duo march into battle taking on every blues-rock trick in the book, successfully blasting them to a new level. No-nonsense, brutal and invigorating” - Guitar & Bass
"(Gwyn Ashton) blends the essences of Mississippi, New Orleans and Texas blues, 60s surf, British 70s rock and no-holds-barred Australian kick-ass boogie ... (He is) guaranteed to satisfy the most discriminating taste in guitar-led blues." (Review of his album "Prohibition" at CD Baby
CD Baby
CD Baby is an online music store specializing in the sale of CDs and digital music downloads from independent musicians to consumers. The company is also a digital aggregator of independent music recordings, distributing content to several online digital music retailers.CD Baby has achieved recent...
)
"Prohibition is a strong, powerful and dark, energetic and charged with electricity Blues-Rock ... probably the best Blues/Rock album of 2006" (Review at Bluescat)
Awards
In 2001, French Guitar Part Magazine voted Gwyn Ashton third best guitarist of the year, beaten by Jeff BeckJeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
and Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
.
In 2007, his album Prohibiton was voted 'Album of the Year' by the British Guitar and Bass magazine.
Endorsements
Ashton is endorsed by:- Fender (Australia)
- Vigier Guitars (France)
- Busker Guitars (UK)
- Fatboy Guitar Parts
- Vintage Guitars
- Jacques Stompboxes (France)
- National Reso-Phonic Guitars
- Seymour Duncan Pickups
- Hiscox Cases
- Koch Guitar Electronics
- Graph-Tech Industries
- Award-Session
- Dunlop Strings
Discography
- Beg, Borrow & Steel (2001, Riverside)
- Feel the Heat (2003, Riverside)
- Fang it ! (2005, Riverside)
- Prohibition (2006, Riverside)
- Two-Man Blues Army (2009, Fab Tone)
External links
- BBC Music Artist Entry
- Official website
- Myspace page1
- Myspace page2
- [ Allmusic] entry for Gwyn Ashton
- Riverside Records, Gwyn Ashton's previous label (not to be confused with Riverside RecordsRiverside RecordsRiverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
)