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 Musical evolution

Aynsley Lister – Beyond the Blues

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November 2017

No Blues Awards this year

A reader has asked why there was no request to support local musician Aynsley Lister in the British Blues Awards poll this summer. The answer is that, sadly, the validity checks that are made have shown that technological advances have made it easier to indulge in multiple voting and influence the outcome. “Our priority at the moment is finding a workable model for the voting procedure where we and the general public can have faith that the public vote is fairly and accurately conducted,” said a spokesperson for the awards. “We can't go ahead with the awards without a solution”. If they can find one which is viable, and cost effective for a non-profit making organisation, they'll be back in 2018.

In addition to the usual mix of British and European gigs this year Aynsley and the band, accompanied of course by wife and manager Steph, headlined at the Playing with Fire music festival at Midtown Crossing in Omaha in the USA in July. “14th time is the charm,” organiser Jeff Davis said. “After offering UK guitarist Aynsley Lister a spot 13 times in a row, he has finally accepted our offer to appear at Playing with Fire.”

But it's home for Christmas and on Sunday 10th December fans will get their festive treat when the band appear at The Musician venue in Leicester. The Listers will be hoping for good weather in December as they head to the south of England and then work their way back north for the last pre-Christmas gig at The Caves in Edinburgh.

The Caves is described as an architecturally unique venue in the city centre. The space forms part of an underground 18th century sub structure underneath The South Bridge known as The Vaults. The entire location has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is made up of a restored series of interlocking brick walled vaults. There was once so much whisky stored here that it became known as "Whisky Row". That's one way to keep warm in Edinburgh.

December 2016

What makes an award winning musician?

Over the last seven years there have been four guitarists who have topped the polls in the annual British Blues Awards. And, apart from local musician Aynsley Lister who won in 2015, the names are unlikely to be ones which are familiar to readers. Matt Schofield won for 3 years from 2010, and Laurence Jones won this year. In a male dominated genre it may come as a surprise that a woman, Chantelle Mcgregor, won not once but twice, in 2013 and 2014. She was the first woman to win the award and was once told by a record boss “girls don’t play guitar like that!”

The music industry is overflowing with talented artists and over the past 60 years there has been a revolution in the standard of musicianship. But what is it that turns a good guitarist into an award winning guitarist?

Thirty nine year old Matt Schofield was born in Manchester.  He began playing guitar at the age of 12. “I taught myself, working my way through my Dad’s great blues record collection. My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day. I did my first gig age 13, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said. It's perhaps this American link that's enabled him to build up a  following and tour in the USA.                                                                                                                                                       

Matt isn't the only winner influenced by dad's record collection. As a child Aynsley Lister describes himself as being “hypnotised by dad's old guitar”, and at the age of eight he was finally gifted his very own. Dad was a fan of Jimi Hendrix but he also loved artists like Cream, Fleetwood Mac and more. Aynsley taught himself to play, spending hours copying his favourite records note for note. When he's not touring or recording across Europe he now teaches others how to play. 

Now this may be starting to sound repetitive, but you must hear about Laurence Jones who, at just 24 years of age, won the award this year. He was born just outside Liverpool in 1992, but brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. Yes, he started young as well, and took up classical guitar as a seven-year-old. But once again we find a dad that's a fan of the Groundhogs, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton lurking in the background with a vinyl collection of albums that ultimately shaped Laurence's musical education. He was attracted to the improvisational freedom which was the exact opposite of his highly-structured classical studies. At the age of 17, he formed The Laurence Jones Band and subsequently enrolled on a Music Degree course at Birmingham University. But before the end of the course he accepted the offer of a tour with two of his musical heroes and his career was on it's way.

So that leaves us with Chantel McGregor, and there's no mention of dad and a record collection. But one suspects there was someone there in the background as at eight years of age she was the youngest person in the UK to pass a Rock school exam. Four years later she was performing in her native Bradford and evolving into a gifted musician and later enrolled at the Leeds College of Music. She was the first student in the college’s history to achieve a 100% pass mark, with 18 distinctions and leaving with a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music and a coveted prize for outstanding musicianship. 

So is there a common theme?

In these four award winners backgrounds there seem to be influences which started their musical education at a young age. This is not something limited to the world of successful guitarists, as the success of Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a 17-year-old cellist from Nottingham who was named as the winner of BBC Young Musician 2016, demonstrates. He is part of a musical family and his brothers and four sisters play a broad range of classical music. They have won many prizes and awards for their music and performed in the semi-final of Britain's Got Talent. Simon Cowell named them 'The Most Talented Family in the World'.  Mozart, who had started composing by the time he was 5, was writing operas when just 14.

There's obviously much more to it than an early start but it does often seem to be a factor when it comes to getting ahead in your chosen field. And this doesn't just apply to music – Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton is said to have approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the age of 10 and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." He was signed three years later to the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz Young Driver Support Programme.

Whether it's fast cars or fast legs an early start can be a pointer towards future excellence. Jamaican born Usain Bolt, regarded as the fastest human ever timed, had become fastest runner over the 100 metres distance at his school by the age of 12.  Let's not forget Tiger Woods who at the age of 8 was already winning cups at the Junior World Golf Championships.

So can we pick next year's award winning guitarist?

There are so many variables that it's as difficult as forecasting the results of general elections or a referendum. Just like elections there are probably floating voters who are comfortable switching their allegiance between artists. Exposure in the months before a vote is likely to be a factor, so touring probably makes a difference. The release of an album also helps, especially if has the type of positive response from both fans and critics that local musician Aynsley Lister's 'Eyes Wide Open' CD has received.

To put it in non-technical terms he is 'on a roll' at the moment, turning in up in magazines and turning away latecomers without tickets at some of his sell-out performances. If you want to know what the fuss is about you can check out his website and facebook page and there might still be time to catch the band at Leicester's Musician this Sunday (December 11th). Or you can give yourself, or someone else, a Christmas treat by buying the CD from www.straighttalkinrecords.co.uk/store or the MP3 download or CD from Amazon.

The man who painted Aynsley Lister

September 2016    The response of many people when they are asked what they think of Art is that it isn't really their thing, even though we are surrounded by art and graphic design. Perhaps their spontaneous answer is based on the thought of a silent gallery of old masters which don't really communicate with them. Yet there is so much more, it is incredibly diverse and painting, drawing and sketching is a hugely popular pastime both nationally and in the East Midlands,  where the Leicester Sketch Club has been voted the Art Club of the Year 2016 in the UK in a competition by Artist and Leisure Painter Magazines.  

At a more local level Mark Wilde's classes in watercolour techniques mentioned in last month's Spotlight continue to be popular.  Mark, who works in watercolour, mixed media, oils, pastels and pen, studied art in America and came to England in 1990. He paints and teaches full time and has work shown in galleries throughout the UK.  Although his Autumn classes are underway at Groby Village Hall he is willing to accommodate late starters.  His contact details are at the end of the article.

It seems art is good for you

Research suggests that, just like the known benefits of physical exercise, there are also mental benefits from drawing and painting. These include improved creativity, improved memory, improved communication skills and improved problem solving skills. These are in addition to the well known emotional benefits of the pastime.

Even for those who just like to look, rather than create, from time to time it is possible to accidentally discover something fresh, imaginative and stimulating which catches your interest and may even make you smile, like Mark's spray-paint on canvas portrait of Lenin and McCartney.

The art of Nottingham's Anthony Greentree is  another example.  This month examples of his work will be dropping through letterboxes not just in this country but abroad as well. The reason is that he is the man who painted local musician Aynsley Lister, artwork which has helped make Aynsley's latest album Eyes Wide Open even more special. In some ways the CD cover is a nostalgic look back to the days when the artistic expression on vinyl album covers often made them prized possessions.

Here's a rare opportunity to see the two award winners playing together on You Tube when Aynsley invited Laurence to join him on stage in Oxford in 2013. 

So in 2017 there's a strong chance the best guitarist award will go to Aynsley Lister but no doubt Laurence Jones will hope to do two wins in a row. 

Anthony set to work on three paintings chosen from the visuals he had created. Steph took some photos of Aynsley in various poses based off the ideas as a reference for the paintings and once he had formed the main part of the composition he then painted in the New York background. “The second painting I wanted to create the same feel but more of Aynsley in a contemplative mode, taking in the thoughts of his visions.” The result is a CD case that matches the quality of the music on the disc. The Eyes Wide Open artwork isn't Anthony's first album cover as he also painted the front cover of "Meeting in the Night," the 2015 album from Till Bennewitz.  He had heard Aynsley playing live and wanted to capture in the paintings the expressive tone he had heard in his guitar work. “His performance of 'Purple Rain' is, for me, a perfect example of his delicate handling of the guitar and this was one of the main colours I wanted to include in the paintings.”  

Three paintings to create

 “I was approached by blues guitarist Aynsley Lister and his wife Steph to look at creating artwork for his new album 'Eyes Wide Open',” explained Anthony.

 "The idea was to capture the observations and moods of the songs he'd written and try to visualise it in a way that reflected the feel. The initial idea I had was the vision of Aynsley opening curtains of a window and absorbing the moments of the day. The songs had an Amercian vibe to them, so I immediately thought of New York City as the backdrop for the front cover.” He set to work by creating pencil and ink sketches to get a general idea of how it was going to look and sent them to Aynsley to see if that was the right path to go down.

Readers may have seen his work displayed in Leicester or his  Afternoon Mural at Coalville's  Party in the Park in June -  a mural created for FiLiGi,  an organisation that helps young people improve their own futures.  Anthony's website carries many examples of his diverse output. Just when you think you've taken it all in you discover another link and more to look at. One of his commissions was to sketch the events of the whole day at a wedding. He was asked to capture as many moments throughout the day as possible. “This was a very difficult task, mainly due to the pace of what was going on. But I managed to produce 23 very quick sketches.” He was also asked to produce images for the tables and table plans. He produced 11 Glastonbury sketches in black and white as the couple were going there as part of their honeymoon. If you think this is enough to keep him busy you'd be wrong, as Anthony also runs art classes.

He grew up in Nottingham and pursued his art training at DeMontfort University, Leicester and Open University, Nottingham. Since then he is a practising artist and also currently works as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator. “I have been working as an Artist / Designer for many years now and I enjoy how my work is flexible with many different challenges. I love working in all mediums depending on what I am doing or what the idea dictates. This has ranged from portrait commissions, murals and even conference murals, capturing the events of the day. I sketch as much as possible, which supplies me with the motivation to produce various bigger projects.”Can everyone draw?

Now working in Nottingham Anthony, just like Mark Wilde, also loves helping others towards the realisation of their artistic ambitions.   “ Many people want to pursue it as a hobby or eventually develop this towards a further education qualification. But sometimes they tend to fall at the first hurdle which is confidence,” he said.  “A lot of the mishaps when drawing and painting comes with self doubt and even the fear of picking up a pencil. We all have the ability to draw and all have the ability to express. I like to think that I am part of that process in guiding my students through to awaken the potential of drawing and painting.”

Find out more

If you want to join Mark Wilde's watercolour course you can contact him at markwilde8@gmail.com or ring 07757010982.

If you would like to see Anthony's work your starting point is http:www.anthonygreentree.co.uk.   

 The Eyes Wide Open album cover will introduce him to a new audience.  The album, released on October 7th, has received a great response from critics, one of whom wrote that it “features an assortment of 13 individually superb creations which collectively underlines the fact that hard work and dedication truly pays off." For more information go to www.aynsleylister.co.uk or facebook.

June 2016

Can you make time to vote for Aynsley Lister?

Groby's Aynsley Lister has worked hard with his band to carve out a musical niche for himself, and not just in this country. From now until the end of the year they are touring, playing mainly all over the UK apart from the last week in October when they are appearing in Austria and Switzerland. Aynsley also toured Europe in February, playing in Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland over 3 weeks. He always does a minimum of 2 European tours per year and and in June he played at the Ribs & Blues festival in Holland. The band will be appearing at the Musician in Leicester on November 27th.

It might sound an attractive lifestyle but the motorway is a merciless master for musicians. On top of the stress of all the travelling, life goes on. Fans become friends and sometimes friendships are lost. This is the place that Aynsley is at now, mourning the loss of his friend Rod Thomson.

“About 6 years ago Rod was diagnosed with throat cancer,” explained Aynsley. “He went through a tough time and was only given a 70/30 chance to make it through. He pulled through though and in January this year he was given the 5 year all clear. We celebrated his health between close friends and in April, at his request, I played a gig at his local - The Hotel Deux, Nottingham.”

On Sunday 3rd July 2011Aynsley Lister, his fiance Steph, and a group of friends cycled the Way of the Roses coast to coast from Morecambe to Bridlington over three days in a ride dedicated to Rod Thomson, a fan of Aynsley's music. The trip was part of their charity fund raising in memory of their friend. About 6 years ago Rod was diagnosed with throat cancer. He won his fight with the disease and last January was given the 5 year all clear. His friends were stunned when a month later Rod died of a heart attack.The Way Of The Roses,” which opened in September 2010 is a cross country trail devised by the cycling charity Sustrans that links England’s west and east coasts. It's described as a beautiful, changing landscape comprising the Lune Valley, Forest of Bowland, Yorkshire Dales, Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Vale of York and the Yorkshire Wolds. The route, part of the National Cycle Network, consists of traffic-free paths, on-road cycle lanes, country lanes and quieter roads.

Although considered a generally safe route reports some incidents have been reported and riders are asked to take extra care on the sometimes narrow downhill sections, especially negotiating blind bends, avoiding potholes, when it’s wet, and when riding in even a small group.

Passing through such beautiful countryside the route there is no doubt every incentive to amble along and enjoy it to the full. But for those, like hardened cycling club riders Dave Powell and Jason Miles, who want to break records ambling is not an option. It may sound impossible but they have ridden the entire length in a single day. Including a brief stop for lunch it took them 11 hours. They reported that the signposting of the route was very good and were also really impressed by the almost complete lack of busy main roads. They advise that although you may go for hours without seeing a car you can expect to see a lot of hills.

Aynsley and friends took a more leisurely approach but it was still a challenging ride. “We had a tough 3 days,” said Steph, “but are already planning a Whitehaven to Sunderland ride for September. All the money raised is being donated to Cancer Research UK. Donations can be made through the Donate in Memory website and we're hoping to continue getting sponsors over the summer, including all of the proceeds from a charity gig Aynsley is organising in Nottingham. So far we've collected over £500 and the number keeps growing,” added Steph.

If you wish to support Aynsley's charity cycle ride go to http://donateinmemory.cancerresearchuk.org/0001475 or follow the links from his website http://www.aynsleylister.co.uk.

Here's the first story about the fundraising plans and more about Aynsley Lister's success

Bright lights cast shadows

Why the blues singer is cycling for Cancer Research   Updated July 2011

When Aynsley Lister was mentioned in the Groby Spotlight in May it was probably a name that many Groby residents were not familiar with, which is quite understandable. There are lots of folk who can't name a footballer, an X factor winner, or even the Foreign Secretary, let alone a blues and rock singer. Even if in his world he is a leading exponent of the music he plays.  

Voting is now open for the 2016 British Blues Awards and there's another chance to support home grown talent, Aynsley Lister. There are two reasons you may want to vote for him.

You may have heard and loved his music and scratched your head wondering how a small Leicestershire village has produced a talent that has been acknowledged and respected within the music industry on the one hand, whilst on the other is probably an unfamiliar name to the public at large. If you need evidence of the recognition of his talent you need look no further than the results of the British Blues Awards.

In 2014 he won the “Songwriter of the Year” award, winning the “Best Song Award” for “Home,” from the album of the same name (runner up in the “Best Album” category). He was runner up as vocalist in 2015, but winning the “Guitarist of the Year” category was perhaps the icing on the cake for Aynsley.

His 'Home' album in 2014 is widely regarded as his best and it marks a critical point in his artistic development. This may not be the blues as you know it if you have in mind the American blues giants or even the bands of the 1960's revival. This is blues music that stands at the interface with mainstream rock and seamlessly blends the genres. If you need convincing about the quality of the offering you can listen to his music at www.aynsleylister.co.uk. When he was “the boy next door” he was described as the new Eric Clapton, but such comparisons are superfluous as his music and songwriting have matured and developed.

 Another reason to vote for him

If you've never heard of the guy check out his music and consider another reason to vote for him. He's worked hard to get where he is and he's part of our community, so why not give him your support. After all many contestants on those TV talent shows have been supported by votes from their home towns. Voting ends on June 30th, rather earlier than in previous years. Ainsley has been nominated in the “Vocalist and “Guitarist of the Year”categories and you can vote on www.britishbluesawards.co.uk/vote.htm

Aynsley hasn't had an album release since the success of “Home” and so both fans and music critics will be looking forward to “Eyes Wide Open” due out this summer, though there's not an opportunity to hear the new tracks live in Leicester until the next Musician gig currently planned for December.

 Launch party planned

The band is, however, having a launch party at Bistro Live in Nottingham on Thursday 4th August. Admission is £27.50 but does include a freshly prepared three-course meal at 8pm. The food gets an excellent 4.5 out of 5 rating on Trip Advisor. The band will be on stage at 10pm with a mixture of fan favourites along with the brand new material. Sounds like something old, something new, something blues.

November 2015

Britain's best blues guitarist lives in Markfield

Groby's Aynsley Lister, who now lives in Markfield, has recently been voted Britain's Best Blues Guitarist in the 2015 British Blues Awards. The British Blues Awards are run by unpaid volunteers and rely entirely on sponsors and donations to pay for the trophies and entertainment at the presentation. The nominees are chosen by a large panel but the winners of the awards are chosen by blues fans themselves in an online vote every year.

“At first the nominations and votes was decided completely by the public, but this became too much to cope with, so we changed the rules,” explained a spokesperson for the Awards. “Now we invite a group of people to form a panel at the beginning of the year, and we try to make sure that the whole of Britain is represented. We include people that run the Blues Festivals, Venues, Radio and Internet Broadcasters. Blues Websites, Publications, Journalists and Reviewers. Each member of the panel is asked to nominate their top three in each category with 3 points given to their first choice, 2 points to the second and 1 point to the third. The points for each nominee are added together and the top six (more if there is a tie) in each category become the short-list for the public vote.”

Aynsley came runner up in the male vocals category and is pleased to add the 2015 awards to those he won last year. In 2014 in addition to being runner up in three categories he was named the Best Songwriter and also won the Best Song award for the title track from his 'Home' album. Drummer Wayne Proctor, who played on 'Home' also won "Drummer of the Year" for the third time in a row. In order to prevent an over dominance by any act in any of the categories, three times winners are inducted into the British Blues Awards Hall of Fame,which means that they are excluded from future polls in that category. No doubt that's a position Aynsley would be happy to be in.

Voting is not limited to the UK, which probably helps Aynsley as the band tours abroad every year. Back in July he appeared at a festival in France which also featured Gordon Matthew Sumner, better known as Sting, and Mark Knopfler who rose to fame with Dire Straits. In the Spring his band became 10 strong for a visit to Poland, and the quality and experience of the musicians he added is a measure of the strength of his growing reputation.

But being so far away from home can have it's complications, as the band found when their bus broke down before their show in Hamburg on their recent European tour. Luckily Jürgen Kulp, who Aynsley describes as “a very special friend,”came to the rescue. “Within 10 minutes of our breakdown, Jürgen had his bags packed, his trailer ready and was on the road to collect us,” said Aynsley. “He got us to our first show in plenty of time for a champagne arrival and a stress-free soundcheck. We had the pleasure of keeping Jürgen on the road with us for the last shows while the AA did a great job looking after our bus.”

For the next few months the band will be playing at venues across the UK. These include their Christmas appearance at The Musician in Leicester on December 13th, when fans won't expect any Christmas carols but may be hoping to hear some of the songs to be featured on the band's next album.

August 2014

It's natural for newly weds to look happy when they take time off work and jet off somewhere. When Aynsley and Steph Lister left for Cuba for their honeymoon last month they had another reason to be smiling. Aynsley had just won two of the five categories he had been nominated for in the annual British Blues Awards, and was named runner up in the three others. The title song from his 2013 album Home won the award for Best Song, and Aynsley also won the Best Songwriter award. It's been a long road for the former Groby Community College student and these awards are an important milestone in his career.

The twelve months since the release of Home last summer have been significant for Aynsley and Steph, as the album was the first release on their own record label, Straight Talkin' Records. This new venture was in addition to the other business services they offered such as an in-house, professional design service for a range of different projects. This includes tour flyers, leaflets and t-shirt design to album covers and full promotional campaign work. Then there's a website design service, catering for many different styles and provide ecommerce solutions so clients can start selling their products and merchandise.

And with Steph taking over as Aynsley's manager they also gained the experience to offer Artist Management services. They can help with booking full tours to providing advice on professional matters, long-term plans and personal decisions. They currently book venues in the UK, Netherlands and parts of Germany. All this is in addition to a demanding touring schedule which is particularly intense overseas with rarely a day off.

Aynsley also gives guitar tuition and there is even the opportunity to spend the weekend with him and his band for a guitar workshop. After dinner on the Friday evening there's an evening jam - 2 guitarists at a time getting up to jam with the band. During the rest of the weekend the blues/rock musician and now award winning songwriter talks to the group about various aspects of playing and they will get a chance to put any ideas discussed into practice with the band.

As if this isn't enough the couple have signed a young German to their record label which meant an extra workload in the studio recording his debut album with him. "It's a different direction to Aynsley and certainly isn't blues," said Steph.

Their honeymoon plans meant they weren't able to attend the British Blues Awards ceremony but Aynsley said he wished to thank everyone who had nominated and voted for him. “There were some amazing musicians nominated this year and a lot of my closest friends were in the running, so it's a real honour to have won two of the awards,” he said.

And their thoughts on their marriage? “Finally married my best friend... my straight talkin' woman! The most amazing day ever,” said Aynsley. “It's been such a fantastic week - two awards, a wedding and a honeymoon!” added Steph.

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 Scroll down for the first story about the fundraising plans 

and more about Aynsley Lister's success

June 2011

Aynsley and friends plan another charity ride