Today it is difficult to find new music that is worthy beyond a validity of no more than... if at all, a year. And it happens in all genres, including Rock music. The downside of being a session musician and a "Hired Gun", and also being a veteran with a few years in the profession, is that it is difficult to be surprised and, musicians in these conditions, become severe critics of young values. And although the fault of this is precisely that the formal record labels promote a lack of quality, new musicians also tend to make the typical mistakes trying to abid by the comercial rules (considering that these aforementioned record labels tend to manipulate artists). On the other hand, the advantage of being me, Messy Blues, is that what I like is the music and not so much the position of being "A Dude Who Knows Everything" just because I have played Rock for more years. An expert is definitely not an expert for that simple fact -playing for a long time-, more things are required to qualify or disqualify an artist.
But I'm not writing this to brag about being the best Rock critic and judge or pre-judge young talent. Actually, I am one of those subjects who usually stop in the street to see a musician playing for a few coins and I also look for new musicians on social networks, or musicians that I do not know (in the sense that some may have the same or more years than me, playing Rock), and in many cases I have learned new tricks and techniques to play the guitar, which I have been doing for a little over four decades. You never know enough and you never stop learning, and that is a golden truth among musicians.
Abridging, I've seen a lot of guitar girls on those social media that have really impressed me, including Tennessee native Jax Hollow and German girl Eda Soybay, both of whom are incredibly skilled. But I also discovered a young guitarist, whose place of origin I do not know because there is no reference whatsoever, called Ash Blair, who is in her early twenties, probably younger, whom I would place, along with Jax Hollow and Eda Soybay, in the category of what they call “Shred Guitarist”. Ash Blair actually doesn't flaunt what she does very well, playing the guitar, and this is evident in the "Reels" that she posts on her Instagram account and her YouTube channel in which, with a kind, clean and nice smile, she shares with her followers the pleasure of playing guitar. As a curious fact, I had been suffering for years with "Every Break You Take" with the famous riff that Andy Summers does in that song, combined with chords (I practically did "Spiders") and Ash Blair posted a video doing that riff and I copied it because I found it less tired in the way she does. I guess how she does it is the correct way.
But Ash Blair is more than just great playing guitar skills, a pretty face and overwhelming charm, the girl also sings and composes her own music and in that she is also quite professional. The girl has recorded a four musical pieces Extended Play called "Shades of Ash" which production is impeccable, as well as the musical execution and her vocal skills. Such a recording, available on platforms at a good price, is a fresh encounter with good music with which I still can't agree with myself whether to call it "Rock" or call it "Overall" since, in both cases, it could be a bit unfair. Blair is too good a guitarist (and singer-songwriter) to be pigeonholed into a term that might, after all, just be a label formality.
Ash is, like who writes this, a "Fender Guitarist" but that is not why I write about her work, it can be said that Ash is one of the few guitarists who, for my taste, know how to correctly handle the mechanical part of two of the most Fender Company legendary guitars: the Fender Stratocaster (my favorite) and the Fender Telecaster (my second favorite) and no, I don't have the honor of having her friendship because I am just her simple fan. Let's say that the part that impressed me was her total creative freedom to make music and her ability to faithfully play “Cover” songs, which she reproduces in an impressive way and very faithful to the originals.
“Shades of Ash”, in context
The part that makes me write about this girl is the one in which Ash Blair is Ash Blair playing what she proposes and her music has many edges and profiles at the most academic level of groups like Yes and/or Jethro Tull as a guitarist and composer, and at the same time the (not voluntary) identity with artists like Kate Bush and/or Nancy Wilson, in terms of voice and presence. But it is not the same to get carried away by the photo of a beautiful girl than to listen to her songs with headphones while you go to work or come back home. So Ash currently shares, on my devices, the musical space of my heroes The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Deep Purple and Yngwie Malmsteen, among others, and I enjoy her music in the same way.
But let's take a closer look at her EP song by song even briefly:
"All Four Walls"
I won't follow a specific order because I picked the songs at random and this one deserves to go first. Here, the guitar sound is a bit of a mix between an “Amp Overdrive” Hard Rock distortion with a probable hint of a metal pedal and I reckon the Stratocaster switch is in the top of the selector's five changes (probably changing way occasional to the first change down the selector -although I don't rule out intermediate changes in some parts-), combined with a simple romantic ballad aimed at a young audience. It has a curious “Eighties” Rock flavor in some parts, which reveals Ash Blair's taste for Classic Rock, but it also sounds quite contemporary and without any mistakes in her playing or singing. Personally, I like this song and I consider it well done in every way.
"Glimmer"
This song is a kind of tribute to the sound of guitarists like Eric Johnson going through the Dorian and Mixolydian modes (I can be wrong, of course), a skilful combination, with pentatonic touches in one or another cut. If there is any "Shred Languaje" dictionary, Ash explains it fully in this composition and in a convincingly way. This is one of my favorites because it is a universal language track for musicians all over the world, whatever language they speak. It's a good theme, a bit evocative of the aforementioned Johnson alluding to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, but it's not without its original flavor.
“Unrequired”
A sentimental ballad in which I personally wouldn't have used a distortion effect in the background, but let's keep in mind that Ash's style is Hard Rock and, being her, that's how it should sound. Although it's a heartbreaking and heartfelt song, it still maintains the power of Ash Blair playing the guitar (and singing, of course) and holds the attention of whoever is listening. This means, Blair achieves here a dynamic among harmony and strength oriented to a song close to a Blues style, something that many artists can´t do. In short, the lyrics are a tacit poem and are well synchronized with the musical line of the voice, doing an excellent game with the guitar.
"Grit"
This musical piece is the expression of a Hard Rock with a Heavy Metal tendency that is very difficult to overcome, although in the first few bars she winks, probably unconsciously, with Black Sabbath's “Heaven and Hell”, and in some “Licks” with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and even a bit with the recently deceased Jeff Beck but it's not a sin to honor influences, right? In the end it is true that "The end justifies the means" and Ash Blair knows how to use the means very well. "Grit" is a theme worthy of belonging to any High Class Rock collection. This piece probably defines a lot the range of technical possibilities that Ash Blair can handle, as well as her proven talent.
In conclusion
Actually, I've never made a formal review regarding a specific artist, I almost always talk about Rock Music and Fender guitars, and I'm definitely far from considering myself a criticist, since I'm a musician. But in that vein, I can draw on forty-three years playing the guitar, since I was a teenager, and having seen live to Queen with Freddie Mercury, The Who with John Entwistle, Deep Purple with Ritchie Blackmore & Jon Lord, and Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne (and also with Ronnie James Dio), among others, because thanks to that professional trajectory I can differentiate the good music from the not so good, and from the lousy.
Ash Blair is a discipline and talent good example and it's evident that her work team (technicians, assistants, etc.) know how to work very well in every way, from Ash's image until handling her tools (amps, consoles, guitars , etc). I think she also has a good manager and a good agent who make her work for both her live audience and her online fans. Her image consultant is no exception and has managed to project the Ash's true professional Rock artist message. The result that Ash Blair has achieved, successful for me, is not a matter of causality.
The above, regarding her team, does not in any way detract from Ash Blair as a skillful and talented guitarist, in fact she takes a lot of personal time for giving to us her followers, replying opinions on her social networks (something that none artist does today). Also notable is a great strength in confidence that she projects in the videos and posts, and that is an Ash's huge advantage over many new artists who work independently. I clarify, I said “Many New Artists”, I didn't say “All New Artists”.
I can end my article with a lot of praise and still not make it clear that the importance of artists like Ash Blair lies precisely in the fact that they build music that will become classical in the future, so I prefer to say it in simple words. It will not be me, of course, who say a negative word about Ash Blair's work, although it is true that somewhere in all this she must know how to handle variety and, at the same time, maintain the dynamic working rhythm that has earned her popularity. It is not easy to repeat a success without re-using some resources and this is probably the type of things for which she could be, or not, prepared, and it depends a lot on this point that Ash Blair maintains creative momentum. Talking about ability and talent, Ash Blair has plenty.
By: Messy Blues
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"Shades of Ash" songs on YouTube:
"All Four Walls"
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