A YOUNG guitarist making a name for himself in the UK and abroad will be treating blues fans to a great gig this weekend, when he takes to the stage at The Wharf in Tavistock.
At an age when most teenagers were doing little except cramming for exams, Aynsley Lister was forging a career for himself among the very top flight of blues men, eschewing his youth and proving you don?t have to be a middle-aged or at death?s door to play the blues convincingly and extremely competently.
Having played his first semi- professional gig at 13 and visiting California soon after, where he jammed with a number of local luminaries and played support to Coco Montoya?s band in San Francisco, Lister can justly claim to have paid his dues.
At 18, he put his first band together along with friends he jammed with and sang for the first time.
The natural progression was to record and this he did, releasing his first album in 1996 on his own lable, with a follow-up live album released the following year. Pressed in small numbers they sold well ? 5,000 alone just at gigs!
He came to the attention of Ruf records head man Thomas Ruf, who contacted Lister to say he was interested in signing him.
Aynsley duly went over to Germany to play a couple of shows with Bernard Allison. They discussed a deal one morning over breakfast and in the October of 1998, he recorded the Aynsley Lister Album.
His debut American album Everything I Need , produced by ex-Hoax member Jesse Davey, was a major step forward in his career and gained favourable recognition among the mainstream music press.
Lister?s follow-up was a solo effort. Armed with just a guitar, a stomp box and a mike, Supakev n Pilchards showcases the artist in front of a capacity audience in the South of England, playing Blues classics and originals.
His most recent album, All or Nothing, was produced by Greg Haver, who has been associated with the Manic Street Preachers and Catatonia.
This work is proof more than ever that Lister is continually pushing himself to the limits, both in performance and songwriting and exemplifies better than any album yet that Lister is his own man with his career laid right in front of him.
Aynsley also has an impressive list of support slots to his credit, including artists such as Buddy Guy, Jools Holland, Bryan Adams, Fun Lovin? Criminals, John Mayall and Robert Cray. The fact he has been billed alongside such a diverse list of artists is evidence if any of the audiences that Lister can reach out to.
Described as ?superb? (The Times) and ?exceptionally mature and exciting? (Mojo), this Saturday will be a night to remember in Tavistock.
Aynsley Lister appears at The Wharf at 8pm.
Tickets are £7 in advance, £8 on the door.
Box office 01822 611166.