Steve Ashley

STEVE ASHLEY has long been regarded as one of British folk’s finest singer-songwriters. His reputation for writing modern English songs informed by traditional influences was established during the early ‘70s and has continued to grow ever since.Steve Ashley has also played a significant role in the development of English folk-rock. He has sung with The Albion Country Band (as a founder-member), his own bands, Ragged Robin and The Steve Ashley Band, and occasionally with members of Fairport Convention. He’s performed solo tours in Europe and the USA, and during the eighties, shared a long-standing partnership with Fairport’s Chris Leslie. He has also recorded with Anne Briggs, Richard Thompson and Shirley and Dolly Collins.Steve’s albums have all enjoyed critical acclaim, and his debut, “STROLL ON” (Gull 1974) is now widely regarded as a folk-rock classic. Produced by Austin John Marshall with orchestral arrangements by Robert Kirby (Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Richard and Linda Thompson) Stroll On was awarded ‘Contemporary Folk Album of The Year’ by Folk Review and the recommended folk album of the year in the Sunday Telegraph. This record and the follow-up, “SPEEDY RETURN” were both released under license in the USA through MOTOWN.Then came "STEVE ASHLEY'S FAMILY ALBUM” (Woodworm 1982), followed by two “DEMO TAPES” cassette albums for the Peace Movement (CND/PAC 1981 and 1985) and “MYSTERIOUS WAYS”(Line Records) – his last album prior to a break from music in 1992.An anthology of his work, “THE TEST OF TIME” (Market Square), was released in 1999 and prompted Steve’s return to live performance. By August, he was back on stage to sing “FIRE AND WINE” with Fairport at CROPREDY, while “Stroll On” was reissued with extra tracks from the sessions, re-titled, “STROLL ON REVISITED” (Market Square). Following a series of rave reviews for this release, the original album received a full-page tribute in Mojo as a “Buried Treasure”. In August 2003, Market Square’s reissue of “SPEEDY RETURN” was also well received. His 'comeback' studio album, “EVERYDAY LIVES” (Topic Records, 2001) received a four-star review in Q and brought the following observation from Colin Irwin in fROOTS:“If British singer-songwriterdom is to enjoy a renaissance – and it’s high time it did – it is right and proper that Steve Ashley should be in the forefront. He seems to have lost none of his way with a beguiling tune and a deft lyric.”Steve Ashley’s songs - whether focused upon family life, war and peace, love, old age, or the changing environment - are all characterised by his distinctive view of English life. Among the many folk artists to record and perform Steve's songs are Fairport Convention, Anne Briggs, The Bushwackers, Dave Pegg and PJ Wright, The Arizona Smoke Review, Phil Beer, Martin and Jessica Simpson, Grace Notes and Maggie Boyle.Back on the road, Steve has captivated audiences with his highly individual songs and performances. Reviewing his appearance at Fairport’s CROPREDY Festival in 2001, MOJO described him as “The Inspector Morse of the folk world - a gentle romantic with a flair for mystery.”In March 2006 Steve celebrated his sixtieth birthday with a special concert with Fairport friends, Chris Leslie, Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg, an orchestra conducted by Robert Kirby (with ex-Fairport Maartin Allcock on bass), reformations of his previous bands, Tinderbox, Ragged Robin and The Steve Ashley Band, plus Johnny Moynihan, Phil Beer, Paul Downes and Martin Brinsford. Then in November, Dusk Fire Records released a live album of the show entitled LIVE IN CONCERT.In July 2007 Topic Records released Steve's ninth solo album, TIME AND TIDE. Welcomed in The Guardian and hailed as a "modern-day masterpiece" in fROOTS, TIME AND TIDE features 15 new Ashley originals with sessions from Fairport's Leslie, Pegg and Nicol plus Robin Williamson and Dik Cadbury among others. TIME AND TIDE also includes three new string arrangements by Robert Kirby. A month later at CROPREDY - as part of Fairport Convention's 40-year-anniversary celebration - Steve joined Fairport on stage to sing on both encores: his own 'BEST WISHES' and Richard Thompson's 'Meet on the Ledge'. February 2009 saw Steve marking 40 years of recording and writing with a headline concert on the first night of CHELTENHAM FOLK FESTIVAL with Robert Kirby conducting a chamber orchestra in a selection of his string arrangements for Steve's albums. In its concert review The Gloucestershire Echo stated: "Steve Ashley has created a rich canon of timeless songs that observe the world around him with a gentle, thoughtful, clear-eyed wisdom. Maybe it was an unconventional start to the festival but it will scarcely be bettered."