Ainsley in his studio...
I was lucky enough to grow up in a household with a music-mad father. Although Dad wasn’t and indeed still isn’t a musician (although he is a great lyricist), he always played records back-to-back for hours on end and Mum more than happy about this. It wasn’t necessarily new stuff, just good stuff: Queen, the Eagles, Led Zep, the Beatles to name but a few. I also really liked ABBA and The Boomtown Rats, so I managed to get them on our playlist too!
In the late 1980s, on the B-side of a “Sounds” magazine promo flexi-disc, I heard “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie” by the Michael Schenker Group, and knew straight away, that I had to be a guitarist. I was blown away by the passion and tone of his playing. I’d just about managed to get by playing drums until this point, but suddenly my whole world became Gibson Flying V-shaped!
After playing as much rock, metal and blues as I could get my hands on for a few years, gigging and recording around the country on drums as well as guitar, I started to become really interested not only in other musical genres (Swing, Folk, Classical, Jazz, Country to name but a few) but other instruments (particularly bass guitar) and also vocals. At about this time I began to study songwriting too: chord progressions, melody, harmony, modulation, chord-substitution, modes et al) because I really wanted to understand why my favourite songs sounded as good as they did. I also began to write all my own lyrics. Easy once you stop worrying what others will think of them;)
Since then, I’ve notched up well over 1,500 gigs both at home and abroad, playing a large variety of genres and always original (and mainly my own) material. Like countless others, I’ve appeared on radio and TV with some frequency (although I hardly ever get to see or hear myself!) and cropped up on a zillion recordings as a guest. Like many of you, I’m still working towards that Number One single!
I’ve been an RGT-registered guitar and bass tutor for the last 11 years and enjoy teaching keen, lively pupils, but I’m always happiest writing/recording new songs and being out on stage, socking it to the audience.
I would list Brian May, Michael Schenker, Django Reinhardt, Ritchie Blackmore, Joe Pass, Gary Moore, Tommy Emmanuel, Dave Gilmour, Carl Verheyen, Victor Wooten, Rutger Gunnarson, Mick Ronson, Brian Setzer, Brent Mason and Uli Roth as being amongst my favourite guitarists and bassists. Feel and tone first, technique next, that’s what I like in a player!”
