I came across the following weblink on my travels across the Internet.
It belongs to a site for an early Agent in the UK and I was pleasantly surprised to find Aynsley has some ties to my hometown of Portsmouth in fact recording a live CD in Southsea.

http://www.barkingspider.abelgratis.com/artists/lister.shtml?festival

You are spot on Johnno. The album is called Supakev “n” Pilchard, it was recorded at South Parade Pier, Southsea on 14th July 2001. And a cracking album it is as well.

Paul

Am I the only one who read that with a pang of sadness, it was 9 years ago and all that was said about potential is equally applicable now?

Red & Blues - 25 February 2010 08:51 AM

Am I the only one who read that with a pang of sadness, it was 9 years ago and all that was said about potential is equally applicable now?

Yeah - its a funny old business - I wonder where it all went wrong with Ruf and where the likes of Oli Brown will be in 9 years time??

I fear it will be similar to Aynsley now. Working hard and waiting for that one big break. Where will Aynsley be in nine years time? Again much the same I fear. We all draw comparisons to Joe B but is he really a house hold name, I don’t think so. But as was mentioned by Eldo, the music industry is a funny old place so who Knows what tomorrow will bring….......................

Sometimes I think we get a little critical, myself included. Yes Aynsley could still be and coming talent. I don’t think everything with Ruf was bad, on the contrary it gave Aynsley a very good presence outside the UK. Aynsley is now on tour in Europe and he’s appeared in television broadcasts like Rockpalast, he would not have got that had he been on Manhaton all this time. Yes Oli is on Ruf now, but don’t forget it was Aynsley that recommended he signed for them, so Aynsley must think positively of his time with them. As for Aynsley and the future, yes I’m sure he’d like to be better known, but let’s not feel sorry for him, we’d all like to be in his place!

Greenose - 25 February 2010 08:53 PM

Sometimes I think we get a little critical, myself included. Yes Aynsley could still be and coming talent. I don’t think everything with Ruf was bad, on the contrary it gave Aynsley a very good presence outside the UK.

As an Ana Popovic fan too I find RUF Records an interesting topic.
Every year the Blues Caravan is a highlight of my touring calendar and always has top notch musicians.  It really is a great place for young artists to get exposure throughout Europe.  Otherwise musicians from places like England just couldn’t afford a Tour abroad. 

Do a show with RUF and come back to the same venues with your own band the next year is how it should pan out.  For some reason Danni Wilde did a European Tour the year after her Blues Caravan stint playing loads of places that weren’t on the previous RUF itinerary.  Oli Brown however seems to be doing it right - he’s coming to the same venues where he was popular with the Caravan.

It’s maybe not so odd then that former RUF people seem to advise others to join Thomas Ruf’s label.  I think Walter Trout recommended the label to Coco Montoya.
Ana has moved on to Delta Groove and I’m sure it’s no accident that now Candye Kane has joined her there.  RUF is seemingly excellent as a short term career move but the very nature of its ‘fresh new talent every year’ approach seems to make it a short term place to be.

What RUF Records has made abundantly clear is that Aynsley (and Ana too) have a lot of young competition for their place in the music market so it’s no wonder that they move away from strict blues - it’s partly down to maturing but also down to a need to establish a style for survivals sake.

Maybe that sounds rather negative but it seems like the Blues market is bursting with young talent right now and ‘evolve or die’ isn’t just a term applicable to dinosaurs, it also applies to Blues Musicians.

Good Comment Johnno.

BB

Johnno - 26 February 2010 10:09 PM

What RUF Records has made abundantly clear is that Aynsley (and Ana too) have a lot of young competition for their place in the music market so it’s no wonder that they move away from strict blues - it’s partly down to maturing but also down to a need to establish a style for survivals sake.

Maybe that sounds rather negative but it seems like the Blues market is bursting with young talent right now and ‘evolve or die’ isn’t just a term applicable to dinosaurs, it also applies to Blues Musicians.

I partly agree, Johnno.
There are so many young guns right now with promising debut cds and stunning gigs .... but it takes more than one swallow to make a summer ... let’s wait and see.
Competition seems to be hard and therefore it’s very important to have the right label. Ruf seems to be a good record label to make first steps.
Can’t say anything to Aynsley’s current record company. Hope it was a good choice.
But besides playing stunning gigs - what Aynsley does - a lot of PR, marketing and advertising is inevitable.
And, let me say that frankly, that’s not Aynsley’s strong side.
I’m subscriber of some newsletters of other bands and most of them send monthly news, informing about their tours, some press articles, new releases, new merch and much more. The most professional newsletter I receive is that of Joe Bonamassa, it’s with all the bells and whistles. Okay, I don’t want to know what he has to spend for marketing.
And Greenose published a newsletter from Oli, so it seems that Oli to inform his fans too. Sorry to say that I don’t receive newsletters from Aynsley very often.

But even if competition is strong, it would be a sad development if a bluesman moved away from blues to mainstream to be overybody’s darling. Hope that the bands I like will be as creative as in the past and will do their own thing.

Ligho - 27 February 2010 05:10 PM

But besides playing stunning gigs - what Aynsley does - a lot of PR, marketing and advertising is inevitable.
And, let me say that frankly, that’s not Aynsley’s strong side.
I’m subscriber of some newsletters of other bands and most of them send monthly news, informing about their tours, some press articles, new releases, new merch and much more. The most professional newsletter I receive is that of Joe Bonamassa, it’s with all the bells and whistles. Okay, I don’t want to know what he has to spend for marketing.
And Greenose published a newsletter from Oli, so it seems that Oli seems informs his fans too. Sorry to say that I don’t receive newsletters from Aynsley very often.

I agree with you fully on this Ligho! It is a really effective way to engage with the fans, Joe does it, Oli does it, Nugene do it for Matt Schofield and Ian Siegal, Davy Knowles too. For Aynsley not to in my view is a lost opportunity…

Maybe its just me but used to think record Labels did the merchandising/marketing for acts.
Eclectogroove did a great James Bond style logo for Ana in bright pink that they used for just one CD cover and nowhere else, and then dropped it completely from the next one.  They never did T shirts or anything to make use of it.  We were selling a T shirt with a photo that didn’t link to the CD at all.

Ligho, do you know who has the budget for Joe B’s merchandise?  Is it the record people?
I remember in Bonn all Aynsley had was a T shirt with an old design that looked like a ‘Y’ but I didn’t know what to make of it.

As for newsletters.  I have some experience of getting such info together and it really depends on how much input fan sites get from A) The Musician and B) The record Company
- my experience is not much.  In case A it’s understandable, they wnat to make music but in case B it isn’t since they primarily want to make money and fan clubs = free advertising :-(

Oli Brown is extra hot with news - I often see duplications from both himself and Graham (still waiting for news of a haircut though )