Renowned international blues artist Gwyn Ashton is getting ready to rock as part of a sizzling summer line-up on the Agnes Water Blues Roots and Rock Festival Marquee Stage in February 2025.
Formerly with Virgin Records in France, legendary bluesman Gwyn Ashton was lead guitarist in Europe with Band of Friend’s (Rory Gallagher’s band) and in Australia with Stevie Wright (Easybeats) and Jim Keays (Master’s Apprentices). He has shared stages with BB King, Buddy Guy, Ray Charles, Peter Green, Van Morrison, Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf), Mick Taylor, Status Quo, The Yardbirds, Slade, Robin Trower, Steve Hackett, Wishbone Ash, The Troggs and more. He has been invited on stage to jam with Mick Fleetwood, Canned Heat, Walter Trout, Elliot Randall (Steely Dan) and many others.
Welsh-Australian Ashton is back touring a new solo album ‘Mojosoul’ and a brand new single ‘Get Outta Town’ with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus and members of Australian bands Cold Chisel and Superjesus. #AgnesBluesFest can’t wait to welcome this legend to their event in solo format for the very first time.
In 2023, the South Australian Music Hall of Fame inductee smashed stages across The Netherlands and Belgium with prog rockers Wishbone Ash, co-headlined the Adelaide Guitar Festival in Australia and relentlessly blazed his way across Wales, England, Serbia, Bosnia, Germany, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland. 2024 dates have included an Australian tour and mainstage at the prestigious Great British R&B Festival.
Gwyn Ashton is on top of the list of the new wave of modern blues rock artists, as spearheaded by The Black Keys, Jack White, Seasick Steve et al. A first class entertainer, he oozes stagecraft and showmanship, combining songs and stories from a road well-travelled with dextrous guitar playing, basting out drum beats on Bill Ward’s old Black Sabbath drum kit, grinding fuzz bass lines with his thumb while viciously attacking his guitar with a bottleneck slide, singing and blowing blues harp into a lofi radio microphone.Inspired by the likes of Hendrix and David Lindley, Ashton’s ‘guit-arsenal’ includes a rack full of electric and acoustic instruments including lap slide, resonator, 12-string and old pawn shop guitars.
Ashton has had multiple Tracks of The Week featured in the UK’s prestigious Classic Rock Magazine from 10 of his commercially released albums, on which he’s collaborated with Don Airery (Deep Purple), Neil Murray (Whitesnake), Robbie Blunt (Robert Plant) and Rory Gallagher’s band.
Robert Plant cites Ashton as ‘the king of feel’, Johnny Winter ‘a true bluesman’ and David Crosby ‘a real player’. With such accolades and every recording garnishing numerous Albums of The Week/Month/Year from UK and European guitar and rock press, Ashton’s incredible live show just keeps growing stronger with every performance.
You can’t afford to miss Gwyn Ashton rocking out the #AgnesBluesFest Discovery Stage 7.15-8.00pm on Friday 21 February 2025 and the Marquee Stage 10-10.45am on Sunday 23 February 2025. This will be an incredibly unique opportunity to experience the talents of an acclaimed international artist who is one of the true blues legends.
#AgnesBluesFest 2025 tickets are currently on sale at www.agnesbluesandroots.com.au/tickets
The Agnes Blues, Roots & Rock Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
Rocking out since 2008, the Agnes Blues, Roots & Rock Festival is a 3 Day Annual Event held in the Great Barrier Reef’s Sensational Deep South. Follow @AgnesBluesFest on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Each and every year the #AgnesBluesFest is not only focused on delivering a fantastic live show for ticket holders, it also ensures a positive impact on the local community and environment. In 2025, profits will go directly to local community groups, including the Agnes Water SES, Discovery Coast Environment Group, local Lions Club and the annual community event established in 1992, the 1770 Festival, held every May.
