Back in the 1990s ( that sounds so weird as I read that back but we are looking back almost 20 years ) the climate was a little different from what it is now. There were the same kind of gigs around on the circuit we play on, but the playing field was more open. Less acts were vying for the same dates and there were not as many tribute acts. I realized that no one was really going to make the effort to keep folks in touch with the music of Wishbone Ash unless something was done to fuel that interest, so I hit the road with a vengeance. Been doing it ever since and a new post ‘rock star lifestyle’ has been carved out for myself and the band while at the same time nurturing a great fan community, which has always been there, except that we’ve all just connected the dots. Of course the internet, our website and most recently Facebook and Twitter have all had a huge impact too. That fact can not be ignored.

After the reunion of the original band in the late 1980s, band members once again left and drifted off one by one. I still had the fire in my belly and for a while, so did Ted and Mart, but one by one, new members came along to join the band. We were one of the first bands to see the potential of going it alone and working the fan community to help us with the release of a new CD which was in the works, called Illuminations. New people were coming on board to help us. Enter Yorskshire’s Martin Looby, who believed in the band and became our booking agent taking us into unchartered territory in the UK and Europe. We had some great, if wacky tours, in those days but one of the cool things Martin did was to record a live album of ours called Live in Geneva. The show was also videod in a new medium at the time called Hi Def. The album was released but the video showed only, at the the time, on France Super Vision, one of the first Hi Def European TV channels. Well, to cut a long story short, the footage in a slightly different format, has been put back together and is currently available on the Hengest Records Youtube channel for all to access http://tinyurl.com/6ksd4qx

It was a pretty good little band back in those days with Roger Filgate, Tony Kishman and Mike Sturgis joining me. Mike himself in fact, was the guy who recommended our current drummer, Joe Crabtree, so the links are there. Tony and Roger have both gone on to other creative projects but we still keep in touch. Mike also keeps in touch and he is one of the senior faculty at Guildford’s ACM music school in the UK. Watching these Geneva videos, I’m reminded of what amazing alumni the Wishbone Ash family has, and how much the band has evolved and will continue to do so, no doubt.

I’d like to thank Martin sincerely for finally making this material accessible. Enjoy it all and your comments would be most welcome. Here again is the link http://tinyurl.com/6ksd4qx

Next post: Joe plays on 'My Kinda Heaven'
Previous post: Rocky Mountain High