THURSDAY, November 21, 2024
Half a century spent touring while continually releasing live and studio albums, Wishbone Ash is now gearing up for their "Wish List Tour", an evening of requests gathered from their fans on social media.
"I love the interactive element of this," says Andy Powell, founding guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. "We have so many chapters, lineups and flavours in our music. There’s more than 500 songs, and we continue to write new ones. It is fun to let the fans decide."
"In some ways our career is like a smaller but global version of the Grateful Dead’s, where radio was not the primary path where people discovered our music," Powell continues. "Many of our fans came on board through word of mouth and exposure to our fan community. With such a long and varied history, fans have followed us closely through certain eras during which they might have come of age musically speaking. They’ll have their favorite songs that they’ll ask us to play. So we decided to give them the show they want!"
Using Set.Fan.com, and their social media platforms, the band has gathered up the most requested songs which will form the ongoing world wide tour, beginning in the UK this Fall, and coming to America 07 November thru 07 December.
"I fully enjoy the VIP Experiences at the shows, and having that direct contact with our people, hearing their stories and they hearing ours. I can tell that even diehard fans are amazed at the longevity of the band. Our ongoing narrative of events that have triggered certain songs or tales of interacting with the greatest musicians at the time through our extensive travels."
Continual touring has kept the band in top shape, and kept fans engaged to share their concert experiences with their friends, which continues to bring more fans, even through the pandemic period.
"It is so cool to see so many young people at our shows," Powell says. Many discover us through the vinyl craze, or a seasoned parent or friend. In Europe, young people sometimes make up half the audience now."
Powell’s 2016 release of his autobiography, “Eyes Wide Open: True Tales of a Wishbone Ash Warrior,” offers some of the story. With Wishbone Ash, the story is always moving forward. Their last studio album, Coat of Arms reached audiences on five continents. The band is in pre-production for the next studio album.
A special "Wish List Tour" CD will be available at shows, featuring the songs that folks might be treated to from the show.
"It’s cool to realize that our concerts have become mini conventions of sorts for fans to interact with each other and the band," Powell continues. "It’s very much a community, like the jam bands have. Case in point, on this last tour after being featured on the Cruise To The Edge rock cruise, a fan from Texas flew in by himself but I watched him during the course of multiple shows onwards up the East Coast being shown hospitality by other diehard Ash fans. This music of ours gets to you! I’ve seen this occur multiple times over the years with different shows where the fan community rallies around a newbie."
In addition the interactive Wish List Tour and CD, the band has The BBC Sessions Box Set titled Surface to Air slated for release, a Coffee Table book, plus a new limited run of custom Andy Powell Flying V’s (the instrument he made famous) crafted by Tatalias Guitars of Brookfield, Connecticut.
Read more about WISHBONE ASH at https://www.wishboneashofficia...
