Aynsley Lister

Recently Aynsley Lister has been playing the occasional solo gig to great acclaim. His new solo CD, the enigmatically named "Superkev & Pilchards", was recorded at The Bullfrog Blues Club in Southsea in July 2001.

Still in his mid twenties, Aynsley has already achieved so much that it's hard to believe that he hasn't been around as long as most of his contemporaries. In truth, he has few real contemporaries. His age and the fact that he is British born separates him from most of the world's great blues artists. At an age when most of us were cramming for exams, Aynsley Lister was forging a career for himself amongst the very top flight of blues men, proving that you don't have to be a middle aged black man at death's door to play the blues convincingly and extremely competently!.

Aynsley Lister played his first semi professional gig at 13, and shortly after played support to Coco Montoya's band in San Francisco. At 18, he put his first band together. His first album was released in 1996 on his own label, with a follow up live album released in '97. Pressed in small numbers, 5,000 were sold just at gigs!!.

In 1988 Aynsley played a couple of shows with Bernard Allison, and was promptly snapped up by Ruf Records, for whom he recorded the 'Aynsley Lister' album. There was much to admire in the spirited performances of Eddie Boyd's 'Five Long Years', 'She's A Woman' and 'Soundman' (the latter two both Lister originals), and the collaboration with blues demi-God Walter Trout on Gary Moore's 'Since I Met You Baby' was pure plank spankin' heaven..

It says much for Aynsley Lister's confidence that he shone in Trout's company. By contrast, an extremely interesting re-working of Dylan's 'All Along The Watchtower' and the airplay friendly 'Won't Take You Back' show that there's much more to Aynsley Lister than just blues-rock..

Apart from those already mentioned, Aynsley has an impressive list of support slots to his credit, including artists such as Buddy Guy, Jools Holland, John Mayall and Robert Cray.

Aynsley's following is currently much bigger in Europe than it is in England, and he regularly plays festivals to thousands of attentive continentals (having played alongside Bryan Adams and Fun Lovin' Criminals amongst others). In order to redress the balance, 2000 saw the release of the 'American debut' album 'Everything I Need' produced by ex Hoax member Jesse Davey. Alongside bigger and brassier re- workings of first album favourites 'Angel O' Mine', 'Soundman' and 'Without You' sit the super sensitive and stripped down version of the Hendrix classic 'Little Wing'.