Fans of Steve Ashley will be pleased to hear that the first ever musical biography of Steve’s career has been released. The book ‘Fire & Wine – An Armchair Guide to Steve Ashley’ has been written by Dave Thompson, a prolific author with over 100 books to his name covering rock, pop and more. As you can imagine, a lot of effort has gone into the 206 pages plus an illustrated discography providing a complete list of session players from all available recordings, and a comprehensive catalogue of his recorded songs.
Charting through a 50-year musical journey is not going to be a walk in the park and it features many contributions throughout including: Dave Pegg, Chris Leslie, Shirley Collins, Linda Thompson, Bruce Rowland, Colin Irwin, Maddy Prior, Austin John Marshall, Dave Menday, Richard Byers, Maartin Allcock, Dik Cadbury, Dobe Newton, Martin Mitchell, Edward Haber, Peter Muir, Sandy Roberton, Heather Wood, Steven Collins, Ian Smith and David Frohnsdorff.
There are of course some great recollections from Steve as well as some rare photographs from Steve’s personal archive. “I’m extremely grateful to everyone” said Steve, “and especially to Dave Thompson for putting it all together. The published book draws to a conclusion two months of questions and answers through emails and phone calls across the Atlantic, and excavations into some very dark and dusty memory banks.”
I have the paperback and kindle edition which may sound overkill but this is a book I know I’ll be wanting to read and re-read because it contains a treasure trove of stories and recollections featuring names that will please any British folk music lover. I’m a big fan of Steve’s music and he is one out finest singer-songwriters and so deserves to be celebrated, something that’s been long overdue. His 1974 album ‘Stroll On’ is a classic folk album and he still remains a strong influence on many artists today.
Fire & Wine
Robert Kirby Memorial Concert at Cecil Sharp House (Steve’s performance is 2:28 minutes into this video)
The book is out now available online worldwide, in paperback and E-book versions.
Order it now via Amazon:Paperback | Kindle Edition
Among the myriad artists about whom Dave Thompson has written books are: Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, David Bowie, John Travolta, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Bob Marley and Roger Waters. He has also contributed to the magazines Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Mojo and Melody Maker.
Read our Interview with Steve from 2012