We are much honored to have Andy Powell, one of the founding members of the legendary rock band WISHBONE ASH, as our proGuest this month. He got back from the first leg of a big European tour with his band, and just resumed a short East Coast North American tour.

Andy Powell was born in Stepney, England. He started playing guitar at the age of 11. For some time he was not able to buy a guitar of his own so he kept borrowing instruments, until one day he finally made his own. Yes you read it right. In fact, that guitar was used during the early Wishbone Ash recordings and was the first of many hand made guitars. The band mates actually named it “Les Powell”. Andy grew up listening to bands like The Shadows, Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, but he also liked R&B a lot. He started playing in different bands around London at a very young age. In 1969, he responded to an ad from Martin Turner and Steve Upton and that is how Wishbone Ash was formed. Ted Turner (second lead guitarist) joined them at the same time, and this was the beginning of the band’s signature twin lead guitar sound that actually influenced many bands, Iron Maiden being one of them. In 1970, the band released their self titled debut album, and the rest was history.

Besides being a musician, Powell added the title “author” to his resume when he published “The Collector’s Guide To Wishbone Ash” in 1996. This is a great guide for those who want to learn more about Wishbone Ash, first hand.

Today, a lot is happening on the Ash’s side. They have a brand new album called “The Power Of Eternity”, and they recently released a live DVD titled “Live In Hamburg”. This is not all. Like we mentioned earlier, they just got back from a very successful European tour, hit the road here in the USA and are now getting ready to go back to Europe for the second leg of their tour. They will come back to the States, this time to tour the West Coast. You can find all the information about the dates on their website at: www.wishboneash.com. They will also be playing at The Rites Of Spring Festival in Philadelphia in May. The Prog Files had the chance to meet them in Maryland Heights (St. Louis) MO in November. You can find a live review for that show HERE.

Andy Powell kindly accepted to be our guest reviewer this month. We are very glad to feature him. He literally did this while he was touring in the States and for that we are extremely grateful. He is a genuine music lover and a real down to earth guy. We also asked him what 3 CD’s are in his stereo right now. He said he is listening to a Swedish twin lead band (of course) called Plankton, The Cardigans and the most recent Wishbone Ash release “The Power of Eternity”.

Please note that our proGuests have no information about the bands other than the songs we select for them.

The first offering by AROARA is right up my street. I love this kind of Celtic influenced rock. Wishbone, as you know, has elements of this in its music. The players are on it and perhaps the missing ingredient might be a vocal. I hear shades of Tull and not just because of the flute. It's in the groove. Are they Irish? We were just there and there is so much great music over there -some incredible players. AROARA Website

BUTCH was also interesting - nice British sounding vocals. A little Yes influence perhaps. Thoughtful. Again, I hear elements of what we do in this band. Were these songs selected with that in mind? More info on Butch's music...

CANVAS: This has to be American - There are those twin leads. Perhaps this might be a little dated sounding. They rock though, and move through different passages effortlessly. CANVAS Website

I like the way that all three acts (especially the first one) are recording in an honest way without too much overproduction. That's the way everyone is going these days. I'd be happy to play on shows with players like this. So many of the bands that are on the same bills as we are, show so little imagination. These three bands are thinking! I love that.

You can find our previous proGuests in our ARCHIVES page.