“DARE TO DREAM, DARE TO BE DIFFERENTâ€
Muso is the rock/songwriting project for Ashton Gardner, the extremely talented young guitar prodigy. Already being branded as the next Santana/Page/Clapton, right now Ash is developing his playing ability and songwriting skills. Working alongside Derek (rhythm guitar/vocals), who collaborates with Ash in the songwriting/recording work, and also supports him on stage, the boy wonder is growing rapidly as an accomplished guitarist with a fantastic feel for music.
Besides crafting some wonderful tunes together, Muso live is something really special. On stage the boys let it all hang out, keeping nothing back as they rip through their sets with gusto. It is clear they have a real desire for playing live, and the audience ultimately enjoys the buzz as much as the boys do. Make no mistake, Muso is beginning to cause a stir, and if you haven't caught them live yet, make sure you do. It is guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience.
Muso are professional songwriters/producers/performers who really love composing, and then playing their music live. Their writing style varies across their catalogue, and probably depends as much on their mood as it does what they are listening to at the time. The songs tend to be driven along by guitar, fuelled by what feels like "storyteller" lyrics that help you to paint the picture you'd like to imagine - sort of like making up your own music video to go with the track. The Muso sound is a bit different, the cornerstone being acoustic and electric guitars layered with unique vocals. Ash is not trying to be like anyone else, even though "labels" are invariably being attached, and he is not trying to fit in with any particular "scene". The music is simple and honest, and that's the way Muso likes it.
Writing ideas come from a variety of sources – it can be from a scene in a movie, maybe a line someone utters, a book or an article, a TV show, and of course, it can also be personal - love, happiness, heartbreak. They don't go looking in any specific place, but rather find that the creativity can be sparked at any moment by just about anything.
Typically true music lovers, Muso enjoy nothing more than picking up a guitar and writing something new, shaping an idea from the first line, and then experiencing that unique satisfaction when it all comes together – the verse and chorus, intro and outro, a red hot solo, the vocal part, rhythm section – it’s just so great when us as listeners get to hear the pieces once they have fallen into place.
You are the reason Muso writes, because after all, what is a song if it cannot be shared with other music lovers. Thank you for stopping by, and we hope you enjoy the Muso sound.
Time to listen, then, so, why don't we run through the tracks on this page while you let the songs play in the background?
LAUREL CANYON - in the '60s there was the Summer of Love and everything that went with it. It was an age of drugs, free sex, sticking two fingers up at the man. Songwriters and performers moved from New York, where the major labels were located, and many settled in Laurel Canyon in the LA hills. people like Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Eagles, Byrds, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, John Mayall, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, all living in close proximity to each other, writing their stuff and then going into LA to play. David Geffen started his label through his Laurel Canyon connections and experiences. Everything was going great. Then very suddenly it all began to get a bit dark. After Woodstock and everything that meant, things started to go wrong for the "Peace, Love and Freedom" movement. Charles Manson began to spread terror in Beverly Hills, and there was the Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont speedway where Meredith Baxter was stabbed to death by a Hell's Angel, the "securitY" for the event. It wasn't long after that that the counter-culture fizzled out. A raging fire followed a few years later, blazing through LC and literally wiping the memory of that era from the map. This song is the story of Laurel Canyon and the counter-culture.
"The flower that blossomed on a farm in '69/Began to wilt when Charlie and his gang arrived"
WOLF RIVER - about Jeff Buckley's untimely death on 29th May, 1997, when he accidently drowned in the Wolf River in Memphis. Who knows what he would have accomplished if his talented life wasn't cut short so tragically. We have written this song from Jeff's point of view on the night in question, and believe it may well have been the message he would like to have sent to those he left behind. Jeff and Tim are no doubt rocking the joint together on some celestial plane. The Legend lives on.
"Going down to Wolf River/Gonna clean my soul"
FALLEN ANGEL - Gram Parsons, the original "Cosmic Cowboy", died in Joshua Tree Park from an overdose of tequila and morphine. His manager, Phil Kaufman, stole his body from LAX, drove it back to the Mojave desert and set it alight, according to Gram's wishes. This song is about the legend of his death. In the opening, their is a surreal "Oh Yeah", and we have been asked about this a lot. Well, it can mean anything, really. The two best one's we've heard are that it's Gram's soul escaping into the darkening sky, or it's Gram settling into his final "high" from the drug and alcohol cocktail. You decide. For further reference, please see www.gramparsons.com.
"Flames burnt high against the desert sky/As your spirit soared away"
CHANGE FOR YOU – misunderstandings, suspicion, crossed wires, its all there as they struggle to hold on to their failing relationship. They want it to work, but the communication isn't so good, and when she strays through frustration more than anything else, it spells doom and simply hurries on the end.
"Why would I change for you/If you didn't love me anyway"
