Gwyn Ashton – Prohibition (Riverside Records).
Australian guitarist Ashton has toured extensively throughout Europe, the USA and Australia with the likes of Johnny Winter, BB King, Jeff Healey and Pat Travers. With that in his locker I looked forward to a treat with his new album, Prohibition. The opener, Get Up, Get Over It is blues rock with AC/DC style phrasing -- not too flamboyant but great slide at the end. Good start. Ashton adds a bit of funk for Come On/Don’t Walk, Run! but he firmly remains on the rock side of the blues and confirms his standing as one of the worlds up and coming guitarists. There’s a Jimi Hendrix style fuzzed solo but the addition of Don’t Walk, Run seems a bit superfluous despite being fine in its own rite. Back To You is back to AC/DC again, albeit with more sedate vocals but with solid guitar throughout. Castaway is a venture into acoustic land so get your lighters out! There’s a big, electrified solo as you would expect so, few surprises but a top performance. Secret Agent shows that Rory Gallagher lives on – top tune, enough said? Ain’t My Style continues the Gallagher theme and is a rolling blues to drift away on. The title track is a shuffling guitar and harmonica blues with distorted vocal. The addition of Liz McLaughlin on backing vocals is a welcome distraction and the whole feel is that of a slowed down Bo Diddley (sorry to hear about his recent stroke).
The Road Is My Religion casts Ashton as the latest in a long line of musical storytellers. This is a highlight where he shows his class in archetypal AOR style. Former Alex Harvey rhythm section, Ted McKenna on drums and Chris Glen on bass herald the arrival of Ashton’s slicing guitar on Ball And Chain, a pounding blues to get the blood coursing through your veins. This is classic power trio fare with Glen and McKenna providing the perfect backdrop to Ashton on guitar, as they do throughout. Are You Lonely is a storming R&B with fuzzed solo. Guitar Town is not the Steve Earle song but is a funky blues where Ashton lets his guitar loose – superb. Rest In Paradise (For Stevie) is dedicated to Stevie Ray Vaughan and is a low key finish but is, as you would expect, a festival of guitar. There are two bonus tracks, Judgement Day which is a great blues of acoustic slide and basic backing and Shake It On Down where I knew he would not let me down and comes up with a rocking finish after all.
http://www.gwynashton.com/
http://www.riversiderecords.com/
David Blue.
Australian guitarist Ashton has toured extensively throughout Europe, the USA and Australia with the likes of Johnny Winter, BB King, Jeff Healey and Pat Travers. With that in his locker I looked forward to a treat with his new album, Prohibition. The opener, Get Up, Get Over It is blues rock with AC/DC style phrasing -- not too flamboyant but great slide at the end. Good start. Ashton adds a bit of funk for Come On/Don’t Walk, Run! but he firmly remains on the rock side of the blues and confirms his standing as one of the worlds up and coming guitarists. There’s a Jimi Hendrix style fuzzed solo but the addition of Don’t Walk, Run seems a bit superfluous despite being fine in its own rite. Back To You is back to AC/DC again, albeit with more sedate vocals but with solid guitar throughout. Castaway is a venture into acoustic land so get your lighters out! There’s a big, electrified solo as you would expect so, few surprises but a top performance. Secret Agent shows that Rory Gallagher lives on – top tune, enough said? Ain’t My Style continues the Gallagher theme and is a rolling blues to drift away on. The title track is a shuffling guitar and harmonica blues with distorted vocal. The addition of Liz McLaughlin on backing vocals is a welcome distraction and the whole feel is that of a slowed down Bo Diddley (sorry to hear about his recent stroke).
The Road Is My Religion casts Ashton as the latest in a long line of musical storytellers. This is a highlight where he shows his class in archetypal AOR style. Former Alex Harvey rhythm section, Ted McKenna on drums and Chris Glen on bass herald the arrival of Ashton’s slicing guitar on Ball And Chain, a pounding blues to get the blood coursing through your veins. This is classic power trio fare with Glen and McKenna providing the perfect backdrop to Ashton on guitar, as they do throughout. Are You Lonely is a storming R&B with fuzzed solo. Guitar Town is not the Steve Earle song but is a funky blues where Ashton lets his guitar loose – superb. Rest In Paradise (For Stevie) is dedicated to Stevie Ray Vaughan and is a low key finish but is, as you would expect, a festival of guitar. There are two bonus tracks, Judgement Day which is a great blues of acoustic slide and basic backing and Shake It On Down where I knew he would not let me down and comes up with a rocking finish after all.
http://www.gwynashton.com/
http://www.riversiderecords.com/
David Blue.
No comments:
Post a Comment