Hailing from Southampton, Ashley Thomas was raised on a diet of diverse music, absorbing the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Prince, Marvin Gaye, David Bowie and Parliament, to name just a few. He started playing drums at an early age, quickly followed by guitar, bass and later, piano. After moving to London to concentrate on becoming a professional musician, various major record/publishing companies seized on his talent for writing addictive songs. However, a broader, more underground approach appealed to his sensibilities. He set about combining the quality of 60s/70s soul/funk with the more contemporary sounds - a fusion of classic vocal hooks and syncopated rhythms held together by beautifully crafted song structures.
When I starting writing songs my benchmark was Steely Dan. They are classic songwriters. I feel like the art of songwriting has been lost somewhat, grooves rule these days, but I consider that only 20 per cent of a song! All this is adorned by distinguished vocals, which, whether soothing or tearing the roof off, never fail to evoke emotion.
Ashleys influences have yielded a unique vocal sound that is hard to pigeonhole, and with A Tale Of Two Cities Ashley utilizes all of his experiences too, from his time on the burgeoning London scene to the sophisticated, Gallic charms of his current Parisian home.
As a live artist, whether with a full band or a stripped down acoustic setup, his exceptional performances have led him to support artists such as Omar, Angie Stone and Kezia Jones. Ashley simply has to be seen to be believed!!
Reactions::
Album of the Week!
Gilles Peterson (J Wave, Japan)
Has everything from jazz to latin to funk. But above all is dripping with quality soul. Superb!
The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show
BBC 6Music. (playlisted)
One of the best acoustic white boy soul albums I have heard for a long time. Kind of reminds me in places of Lewis Taylor!
Kev Beadle (Solar Radio/various) (playlisted)
This is really, really good!!! Great songs and melodies...right up my street. Could be big!
Mad Mats (Raw Fusion / GAMM, Sweden)
I have worked with the man, i love his sound and voice. I am yet to see him live but i bet he is as soulful and warm on stage as he is on record. My faves here are LET IT BLOOM (especially for Japan) and WOULD YOU CRY, cos im a sentimental old fool. Soulful, soothing sounds for these troubled times.
8/10 Domu
That is one heck of an Album. I've had it on Continuous Play the whole entire week. He'll definitely be in my rotation this week on the goods Radio show.
http://www.goodsradio.blogspot.com
Andy Williams (The Goods / PTR, Canada)
Ashley Thomas album brings us some high quality modern day folk/soul, and I especially like the song Spotlight. Looking forward to hear Ashley live! Spotlight to be played on his show on Samurai FM
Vesa Yli-Pelkonen (Wahoo! Finland / Samurai FM)
Awesome!!! That is what i call soulful music! Outstanding!! Full support !!
Marcus Milz (Coffee & Cakes, Germany)
Beautiful soul and proper song writing. Diggin it!
Tiago Santos (Spaceboys, Portugal)
One of the years best ten albums for sure.
Michael Stukes (Mystic Vybes, NYC)
If you like Victor Davis, you will love Ashley Thomas; this one being slightly more diverse and with great up to date character. My favourites must be the driving, up tempo guitar nuggets of God Given, Find Me, and Let It Bloom.
DJ Sampsa Vilhunen / Club Wahoo! Helsinki / Samurai.fm
Truly wonderful, one of my favourites of the year! Already played last week, I'll keep playing it in the following weeks.
DJ Keyser (Crate Soul Brothers, Hungary)
A solid album!
Zilvinas Strumbas (Bagpak Music, NYC)
Review to come from Bitchslap Magazine, Denmark.
Radio play from Gilles Peterson on Radio Nova & J Wave, Menno Jagger on Sound of Swound (Spotlight), playlisted on The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show on BBC6 Music (A Tale Of Two Cities), The Wahoo! Show (Samurai FM), Kev Beadle on Solar Radio (Find Me/A Tale Of Two Cities), Michael Stukes / Mystic Vybes, NYC, Crate Soul Brothers / Budapest, The Goods Radio Show / Montreal, Canada, Rob Luis on Juice 107.2FM, Brighton
Radio play from Niksa aka Easyagent
Radio Eurostar Zbuka Radio Show
FM 101,7, Croatia (In My Soul) & Rob Luis on Juice 107.2FM (Stop, Fade, Blur)
HARDKANDY / HEY LOVER OUT NOW!!
November Hardkandy love::
Charming, soulful, funky! Another goodie from Wah Wah 45s, the home of good taste.
Karsten John (Vinyl Vibes/Cologne)
The Wahs bring us a lovely little 7 from the wonderful Hardkandy. Hey Lover features the ace Laura Vane, whose confused tones ride grooving guitars and a dark bass. Moochin lets a bass guitar and sweet strings have their say.
Genius. Very enjoyable, feel good soulfunkjazzpop fusion with vocals Raeletts like and the kind of organ solo rarely heard on a modern record. Simple & diverse enough to become a small classic, for me at least!
Dj Sampsa Vilhunen / Club Wahoo! Helsinki / Samurai.fm
Radio play on the Balanso Show, B92 FM, Serbia, The Wahoo! Show Samurai FM
FORTHCOMING
NOVEMBER :: 10th :: Jamie Finlay I Am Love digital only EP. 17th :: Kendra Lou & The Miracles Everyday b/w Be Kind To Your Mind (Red Astaire Remix) 7 Inch.
DECEMBER :: 8th :: Beatsy Collins Marvin & Fela Dubplate.
All Wah Wah 45s are distributed through Kudos. Check www.kudosrecords.co.uk
CLUB/LIVE NEWS
NOVEMBER :: The big one this month is our LAST WAH WAH LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT SESSION AT CARGO with Jamie Finlay & The Filthy Six live on stage, plus Servini, Goss & Jelly Jazz head honcho Pete Isaac on the decks. It is gonna be a massive and very emotional night for us so please come down and help us say goodbye to the Cargo arches! Also, check out the Concrete Bar, next to The Hayward Gallery for some culture with your tunes; Servini in Minsk, Belarus on the 21st; the last Hospitality at Heaven where we shall be returning to our Room 4 semi residency!!; The Wah Wah Sunday Joint at The Vibe Bar, this time with Lea Lea Jones from OK Ma and her band; Favourite Things which continues to go from strength to strength at Proud (featuring Talc, Yam Who? and DJ Format this month!!); and one final thing, please come and support the DJ Vadim Cancer Research fundraiser at Herbal on Friday November 7th. It is a massive line up!!!
