Gwyn Ashton @ Sala Arte a Parte – Coimbra

Award-winning Aussie singer/songwriter/guitarist Gwyn Ashton performs around the globe, never straying too far from the roots of the music he grew up listening to – the blues. His fluent, lyrical songwriting and fiery axemanship shine through, whether playing acoustically on his beaten 1936 National steel guitar, or in full-flight mode with an array of vintage electric guitars and amps. Ashton tours and records with some of the finest musicians in the world, his songs reflecting a wealth of experience and lifetime paying his dues.

Gwyn Ashton’s duo features young impassioned maniacal drummer ‘Killer’ Kev Hickman, who provides the perfect counterpoint to Ashton’s guitar wizardry. Ashton and Hickman crash their way into the alt. music scene and blast down the boundaries between the blues and indie rock with experimental, riff-laden, edgy, high-octane songs. Drawing inspiration from the great rock and blues acts from the past, they have developed their own distinctive identity, bringing the blues firmly into the 21st century and carving a notch in a world full of predictable, homogenized music.

Ashton has toured with BB King, Ray Charles, Buddy Guy, Mick Taylor, Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Junior Wells, Johnny Winter, Canned Heat, Robin Trower, Jeff Healey, The Yardbirds, Staus Quo, Magnum and many others. He has also recorded with Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Robbie Blunt (Robert Plant), Chris Glen/Ted McKenna (SAHB, MSG), Don Airey (Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne), Gerry McAvoy/Brendan O’Neill (Rory Gallagher). Ashton also replaced Thin Lizzy/Motorhead guitarist Brian Robertson fronting Band Of Friends – a memorial to Rory Gallagher featuring Gerry, Brendan, Lou Martin and Mark Feltham.