Locally based blues/rock star Aynsley Lister and his fiancée/manager Steph Wildey have reason to be excited. What started as a personal relationship is blossoming into a wider partnership with the launch of their own record label, Straight Talkin’ Records.

Steph, who has a background in both business and marketing, enjoyed going along with Aynsley on his gigs and this developed into helping with simple things like the flyer designing and t shirt designs. Doing the accounts and the tour budgets followed and eventually, when threatened with yet another round of redundancies in her day job they decided to take the management in-house. " It certainly shocked a few people and there were people out there who had their reservations but we held a straight bat, put a lot of hard work into it, got organised and it worked out really well," said Steph.

It was the right decision and over the last 18 months the management has really taken off, the marketing has stepped up several gears and the gigs are all consistently doing great. Last year had some of the highest attendances Aynsley has seen in his career to date.

Artwork and other services

Their artwork offer is 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. They are also able to put clients in touch with reliable photographers and suppliers should they need it.

Using the latest Adobe Creative Suite software they are generally able to have initial proofs of smaller projects (such as tour flyers and leaflets) completed within 24 hours. They use a reliable top quality printing company who offer fantastic prices enabling short notice projects to be turned around within 3-4 days without breaking the bank. They also offer a website design service, catering for many different styles and provide ecommerce solutions so clients can start selling their products and merchandise!

They now also have the experience to offer Artist Management services and can help with booking full tours to providing advice on professional matters, long-term plans and personal decisions. They currently book venues within the blues-rock genre in the UK, Netherlands and parts of Germany and are no strangers to the venues overseas where Aynsley has a strong following.

Then came the record label

With the management side doing so well the idea came of starting their own record label. "The labels he’s had previously have been fantastic and have really taught us a lot in terms of 'best practice'. Thomas Ruf (Ruf Records) got him going and built him a solid reputation and then Alan Robinson (Manhaton Records) came in and really pushed it to a new level, raising the bar and releasing Aynsley’s two most successful CD’s to date (Tower Sessions and Equilibrium)," she explained.

Steph had always wanted to own her own company and it was meeting Aynsley and the desire to see him fully realise his potential that was the catalyst that made it happen. "I’ve always been very driven and determined but it was the passion for music and the will to see Aynsley succeed and really go somewhere that pointed us in this direction. We decided we'd make a really good team : I'd take over the business side and Aynsley would carry on producing his top quality, absolutely rockin' brand of British blues and we'll see where we end up!"

New album released

Aynsley's latest album, Home, has been released on their new label, Straight Talkin’ Records. The album has been dedicated to their late friend Rod Thomson, whose sudden death led to the couple making a cross country fund raising cycle ride with friends for Cancer Research. It includes Free, a poignant track inspired by Rod. If you listen to the previews of the tracks online at http://www.aynsleylister.co.uk/index.php/music/home you'll find out why it's receiving such good reviews.

“If there's any justice in the world this fantastic album from British blues-rocker Aynsley Lister will be rewarded with the kind of mainstream recognition usually reserved for artists with considerably less talent,” writes Simon Ramsay in his www.stereoboard.com review. “The album is a laid-back, maturely-delivered treasure trove of blues, rock, Americana, pop and jazz, bound together by gorgeous melodies, sophisticated compositions and exquisite soloing.”

Listeners to Jazz FM had a treat last month when Aynsley appeared, chatting and playing live on air. And the audience at the De Montfort Hall Simon Says Festival on July 28th gave Aynsley an enthusiastic welcome back for one of his rare Leicester performances. Later this year the band is off on yet another European tour with only 2 nights without a gig in nearly four weeks. Then with just a few days respite he's on the road again in the UK. It all sounds very demanding but the band are of one mind – they love it. “Music is a release for me. When I play I get lost in it and it's a very happy place to go,” said Aynsley.