When Wishbone Ash played Mishawaka’s Midway Tavern last May, the band was in the process of finishing its new studio album, then with the working title of “Searching for Satellites.” But sometime between then and its release on Nov. 25, it became “Elegant Stealth.”

“We often like puns for album titles,” guitarist Andy Powell says by telephone from his home in Connecticut. “We had one album called ‘Clan Destiny.’ ” Puns aside, he says, “Elegant Stealth” also speaks to Wishbone Ash’s identity.

“There’s a feeling that what we do now — the gig in Mishawaka kind of sums it up — is we have a global brand name, but we operate a bit under the radar,” Powell says. “We know how to make records and we believe we do it elegantly. … We just do what we do really well with quiet confidence.” That’s true of both “Elegant Stealth” and last year’s concert at the Midway, where the band plays again Thursday.

The album and last year’s concert prove that the current lineup — which has been together since 2007, when drummer Joseph Crabtree joined Powell, Manninen and bass player Bob Skeat, who had been together since 2004 — has the creativity, musicianship and tightness of the band’s original, early-’70s lineup that produced the classic 1972 album “Argus.”

“At its very basic form, we get together and make music,” Powell says about the current lineup. “It’ll touch on many different genres because as musicians we can do all things. … To be in Wishbone Ash, you have to have a broad palette.” The album kicks off with “Reason to Believe,” a forceful rocker that features Wishbone Ash’s signature twin-lead guitar approach by Powell and Jyrki “Muddy” Manninen, dynamic instrumental breaks, a catchy pop melody and fine harmony singing.

Other highlights include “Warm Tears” and its driving bass groove; the dynamic “Can’t Go It Alone” as it shifts from an almost-Celtic opening to hard rocker to a long but focused guitar solo with some Celtic fiddle fills sprinkled throughout the song; the harmony vocals and contrast between the acoustic rhythm guitar and electric lead guitar on “Give It Up”; and the early-’70s progressive rock groove that Deep Purple Hammond B-3 player Don Airey’s heavy organ washes and melodic solo provide to the instrumental “Mud-Slick.”

Lyrically, the album’s as varied as its music, hitting on such themes as the dissolved love affair of “Warm Tears,” the sympathetic portrait of the titular “Migrant Worker,” and the philosophical investigations of “Man With No Name” and “Searching for Satellites.” “Love and relationships get mined quite heavily in pop songs, and there’s a good amount of that,” Powell says. “But if you travel around, you can’t help but touch on social issues. ‘Heavy Weather’ was sparked by the number of tornadoes that were happening, but it’s really a metaphor for how to weather the stresses in a relationship.”

While the band wrote the songs for “Elegant Stealth,” a documentary film crew made “This Is Wishbone Ash: A Rockumentary,” a behind-the-scenes DVD released in early 2011. “On this album, the brief was, ‘Let’s rely on what comes out,’ ” Powell says. “That was the cornerstone for the whole project, us going into a room and seeing what popped up. … We might do another album later on this year, and it might start with a few songs being submitted to the group (instead of improvised as a foursome). There are no rules anymore.”

The band also plans to meet soon with a conductor to discuss a possible orchestral project, and Powell and Manninen have “chucked” around the idea of doing a blues album next. “We are nothing if not blues oriented,” Powell says. “Our music is all about the emotion. … There is a feeling in the band that we want to experiment.” But the band isn’t in a rush to “just put out another album” after spending two years on “Elegant Stealth.”

“We’re still in the midst of the release of ‘Elegant Stealth,’ so we’re breathing a sigh of relief that we completed it and we’re in the sales part of it,” Powell says. “I see that album as having a shelf life of a year, so there’s no reason we can’t really enjoy playing those new songs, as well as the older classic songs.”

Besides, there already is another new album available: Along with “Elegant Stealth,” Wishbone Ash concurrently released “Road Works Volume 2: Live in Hamburg,” taken from a February 2011 concert. “I think we wanted to put out a bunch of different material that showed all the facets of this band in a short period of time,” Powell says about the double release and adds that he thinks the band will continue the live series. “We really wanted to lay out what the band is and how it’s developed.”

That’s always been the case with Wishbone Ash, which formed in 1969 when guitarists Powell and Ted Turner both answered an ad that bass player Martin Turner — no relation to Ted Turner — and drummer Steve Upton had placed in Melody Maker. As part of Britain’s early-’70s progressive rock movement, Wishbone Ash’s sound favored the genre’s harder-edged sound that was an outgrowth of the British blues boom of the ’60s. Minus the Hammond organ, the band’s early albums fit into the same end of the progressive rock spectrum as those of Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and — among many other unfairly almost-forgotten bands of the period — Atomic Rooster and Captain Beyond.

Departures, however, began early, with Ted Turner’s surprise exit in 1974. Laurie Wisefield replaced Ted Turner through 1985, and the band released such well-regarded albums as “There’s the Rub,” “New England” and “No Smoke Without Fire.” But after Martin Turner left the band in 1980, Wishbone Ash entered more than a decade of instability: Since 1969, 19 people have played in the band, not counting second and third stints for some members. In 1988, the band’s four founding members reunited for the instrumental album “Nouveau Calls” and a successful tour followed by 1989’s “Here to Hear” album and another successful tour. As the band prepared to record a new album, however, Upton, who had been with the band since its founding, quit as Wishbone Ash’s drummer and retired from music. Martin Turner was replaced in 1991, and Ted Turner left the band in 1994, leaving Powell the only remaining original member since then.

Despite all those lineup shifts, however, the band’s core fans have remained faithful, and Wishbone Ash rewards them with a touring schedule of 150 to 200 dates a year and a taper-friendly policy that allows the fans to trade recordings of their shows. “My feeling is that we’ve created a fan community and they’re fans and friends and they’re not going to rip us off,” Powell says about bootleg recordings. “You could say all or nothing, and if you say nothing, then you spend all your time being a policeman. By being fan-friendly, I think it engenders enthusiasm for the band. … My experience is that those fans will support you.”

They seem to: Last year’s show at the Midway drew fans from Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Such traveling to follow the band is common among the band’s fans, Powell says, and he already knows of some fans from the U.K. who will be at the Midway on Thursday.

“It might be a tad smaller than some of the places we play in, but we know some people in the area that are organizing it,” Powell says, referring to a local fan who was also the promoter for the 2011 show. “It’s a different kind of place for us, but it has some personal connection for some fans. As you can imagine, we’ve made some connections with fans, and some are in the area.”

The guitarist also remembers the Midway from Wishbone Ash’s visit last year. “It’s an interesting old place,” Powell says. “It’s got some history to it. … It’s fun in the middle of a tour to do that small of a gig and stay locally. It’s like getting off the treadmill. We get to chill out and hang out with some friends. When we do those kinds of shows, we often play our best shows because it’s low-key and we get to hang out as if with family.”

Wishbone Ash performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Midway Tavern, 810 W. Fourth St., Mishawaka. Admission is $20. For more information, call 574-255-0458 or visit the website themidwaytavern.com.

Also, there's an audio interview with Andy online at www.themusiciansvoice.com. It's first on the page

As always Wishbone Ash will make this the complete Wishbone Experience and showpiece of the year.

The afternoon convention starts at noon and will follow the traditional format with Wishbone Ash presenting an intimate matinee performance (content to be finalised). Other afternoon events are planned and will be confirmed shortly.

We are pleased to be able to confirm that former Ash guitarist Ben Granfelt will be bringing along his band to act as evening support. As a Bona Fide ex member of the band he will no doubt join Wishbone Ash for a few numbers and I know that Andy and Muddy are looking forward to a triple axe attack.

This show will bring to a close the autumn tour and another fantastic year in the history of the band. Come along and celebrate the show that is put together by the fans for the fans.

Tickets are now on sale in the store

My steel guitar-playing, tree-surgeon buddy, Chris Davis, sent me an email last week to say that he saw a mountain lion in the very same field that I had told him I’d seen one some 20 years ago. So we’re wondering if it could possibly be the same animal or a relative. To see one of these creatures is a rare and exciting event, even in rural Connecticut. Like bears, it’s magical when you happen across one, though naturally, you’ve got to be extremely cautious.

These wild turkeys got my mind rambling and I was thinking about the old 70s British band Wild Turkey, led by Glenn Cornick who had formerly been Jethro Tull’s original bass player. I’d first seen that band at a little club in Harrow, UK called the Railway Arms. Mick Abrahams was the guitar player in those days and I remember singer, Ian Anderson had this whole tramp/vagrant look going, standing on one leg while playing the flute. Today, I struggle to stand on one leg while doing tree pose (for any of you yogis out there). Oh, to be young again.

The Railway Arms was a tiny place and I remember we’d all sit reverently on chairs and applaud studiously when any of our favorite bands would come to play there. I also remember falling in love with the aptly named Christine Perfect of Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack. Christine later went on to fame and fortune with Fleetwood Mac and indeed Wishbone played some dates with that band at one point. There was this one song that Chicken Shack played. It was called Lonesome Whistle Blues originally penned by Freddie King, which I admit now, was a huge influence / cop for our song Where Were You Tomorrow.

I’m rambling, but that’s my mood today. This morning I attended a short lecture on nutrition and food allergies from Dr. Jason Barker ND. Did you know that 6 million kids in the USA have these food allergies? Those are only the numbers we actually know about. The food we eat is making us sick - you know the Standard American Diet - SAD for short. So, anyway, I’m thinking of getting tested for food allergies. Not that I feel I have major problems - just that food seems to either, rarely satisfy me or simply leaves me feeling uncomfortable. You never know - it could be gluten, soy, wheat, peanuts - who knows? I want to find out what my body can and can’t tolerate.

Did a couple of press interviews with some nice folks this week, in preparation for our USA tour. The dates we have are solid but the last part was going to be the West Coast. Unfortunately the venues are not showing us the love. They want us to take all the financial risk and do door deals and worse ‘to see how it goes’. That’s just simply not an option for a touring band like us. It’s risky out there and you can lose your collective ass.

Talking of SAD - our local, most favorite music venue the Georgetown Saloon, is closing its doors and the newish owner of 7 years is declaring bankruptcy. Back in the day, this place rocked, with it’s open mic nights and special shows. Wishbone certainly played warm-up dates there and in the 70’s the original band would hang out in the Saloon on many a rowdy night. Keith Richards, Jose Feliciano, Richie Blackmore, Dustin Hoffman, Harry Connick Jnr and many other local celebs have all stopped by at one time or another. Original owner Adam Lubarsky, himself a bit of a local hero, was said to be particularly sad about the place’s demise. It’s simply a sign of the times. These PC times are simply having their impact on live venues. You can’t smoke or drink & drive of course, so folks our age just don’t go out as much. I can understand why a lot of artists play house concerts these days. Hmmm ..... now there’s an idea.

On a brighter note; we have an otherwise full date sheet, thank the gods and we’re off to France next week for a couple of dates there and we’ll be revisiting some of our old haunts on the US tour before gearing up for some summer festivals in Europe. It may well be that the creative juices will bear fruit to a few new recordings this summer, if we can all get together on the same continent for long enough to jam a little.

On a final feel-good note, Pauline and I are just getting used to becoming grandparents for the second time to our beautiful Elodie Claire. Welcome into the world young lady - you bring us much joy.

~ A.P.

As noted in Facebook, I like to decompress a little on these trips by flying in 1 day prior to show day so I landed in Basel Switzerland where Joe had kindly booked me a hotel near the main station there. It was a gorgeous spring-like day as I sat drinking coffee on the charming hotel terrace, and the whole scene was one of serenity, in a peculiar clockwork way. Trams eased in and out of the precinct in front of the wonderful old city station, in virtual silence. They were no doubt arriving as punctually, as only the Swiss can manage. Why oh why did we get rid of trams in London? I always find them to be the greatest addition to cities wherever I encounter them these days.

The next day, our drivers took us all to the venue where we were to be sharing the bill with Les Gens, an offshoot of the famous old French prog band Ange. Our driver was very nice, pointing out sights as we arrived on the outskirts of this Peugeot factory-dominated town, like the waste treatment plant, which he referred to as the ‘Lake’ of Sochaux. This gentleman had that brilliantly cynical French take on life and on the return journey I got his colorful opinions on French politicians like Sarkozy (‘joker face’), Carla Bruni (I’m not going there but it was something to do with the world’s oldest profession) and Strauss-Kahn (don’t ask). When asked about his own political persuasion, I was told, “anarchist”. I immediately liked this guy.

Anyway, back to the arrival; everyone was sitting at a long table eating lunch - what else would you expect? It’s la France. Michelle Surleau was there and she had been my liason for the show - a lovely lady who made sure we were comfortable and then we met her husband Francis, a real character. Everyone was so friendly and supportive as we set about our sound check after we’d drunk the wine and tried some local specialities. As usual, my pedal board caused great consternation as it blew fuses. It ended up with about 6 French technicians scratching their heads while trying to figure it out. Eventually all was settled and the soundcheck got under way.

Fast forward to the actual show: Great! We played after Les Gens and the crowd was super supportive with fans pretty much balanced between the two bands. We had folks travel from Germany and from our favorite ski resort, Samoëns in the French Alps for example. The highlight was when we played Throw Down the Sword for the encore and Francis joined us on organ together with his guitarist who played acoustic guitar. That was really quite emotional and bought the whole concert to a rousing finale.

A trip like this can really beat up your body, as I said. I have great admiration for flight crews on the airlines that do this way more than I do. I heard today that there might be a good chance for some more shows with our new French friends, possibly in the beginning of 2013. That would be great!

A Bientôt ~ A.P.

Many of you have already made plans and booked hotels in Chesterfield UK, for the much anticipated AshCon fan event and we'll be making more announcements about that concerning additional bands and guests and so on. The long-running fan convention and gathering of the clan will be the climax of this tour and will further celebrate the success of the Elegant Stealth CD, currently selling well all over the world.

Sign up to the newsletter on the front page to be notified of the final dates.

More to follow ~ A.P.

P.S. If you type your postcode or city, country in the field at the top of the tourdates page you can narrow down gigs to those within x miles using the dropdown. It also adds driving direction links to each gig so you can see how to get there.