Start time: 9 p.m.
Cover $5
Sean Ashby — http://www.seanashby.com/
http://www.myspace.com/seanashbymusic
Sean Ashby - Chances are, if you've had a radio on today you've heard him. As one of North America's go-to guitar players, Sean has played and recorded with Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Wild Strawberries, Ginger (former Grapes Of Wrath) and many more. Ashby, formerly of Vancouver and Hamilton, and now based in Toronto is a songwriter, producer, guitarist, singer, programmer and engineer who will release his new album "Brass And Gold" on his imprint Black Sparrow Records and a licensing deal with Bhurr Records with distribution through Fontana North / Universal Music Canada on April 29.
Sarah McLachlan's guitarist since 1996, Ashby has appeared with her on "Just Like You (Cats In The Cradle)" for D from Run DMC's solo CD. Also with Sarah, he received two 4 x platinum US discs and one diamond Canadian disc for studio and live cd's. He has recorded and/or toured with Delerium, Front Line Assembly, Swollen Members, Conjure 1, Ginger (former Grapes of Wrath - 3 cd's, tours and 5 videos), Lava Hay, Lee Aaron, Holly McNarland, Sue Medley, Mike Trebilcock (of the Killjoys), Todd Fancey (The New Pornographers) and Wild Strawberries.
Brass and Gold is a solo venture, however, and if you include his award winning side project Jack Tripper, it is actually Ashby's third album. He is assisted on this effort by Warne Livesy (Midnight Oil, Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, Matthew Good Band) who mixed the album, while Ashby did most everything else. The CD focuses on his songwriting/ singing/ guitar/ producing and he also mixed one song. Many of the songs are inspired by Ashby's battles with his own dark side and his journey out. "Eyes are Closed" is a more uplifting song that came to him in a beach hut in Costa Rica on a surf trip. "I am no Jack Johnson, but I have been doing an impression of surfing for about ten years," jokes Ashby.
"Dance Upon My Grave" was inspired by a book on Gypsy singing, "it talked about being a Gypsy singer and how a singer should be completely drained after one song - wrenching out all their emotion into every line, left voiceless and exhausted at the end of the "telling" of the song," Ashby explains. "I was also thinking about a scene in Kill Bill Part 2 where the protagonist is buried alive and trying to escape. The claustrophobia of that idea as an emotional metaphor was the catalyst for this song. That, coupled with my own relationship destructions, inevitably at my own hands. The songs on this record were all crafted with great attention to the lyrics."
Ashby was able to recruit an impressive line up of musicians to perform on Brass and Gold including Todd Fancey (The New Pornographers), Ray Garraway (K-OS) and Sean Drabbit (Branford & Wynton Marsalis). Kevin Fox did two wonderful string arrangements. "Recording the string section was a very emotional experience - so beautiful sounding I had a hard time keeping it together in order to produce/direct the session," says Ashby.
As a musician, Ashby has appeared on the Grammy Awards twice, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno five times, SNL and David Letterman three times, along with other major TV shows and four motion pictures. Sean's guitar playing has appeared on cd's with sales in excess of 10 million copies worldwide... so far. As a solo Artist his goals are not quite so lofty.
When asked about his hopes for this album and his solo future Sean says " I am working at building an audience for my music , playing shows and improving as a songwriter and performer."
