We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

mojosoul

by Gwyn Ashton

supported by
mjbergmusic
mjbergmusic thumbnail
mjbergmusic I like Gwyn's work very much, he is a modern day troubadour and an accomplished musician, a true grit travelling showman and all round good guy.
gazzatee
gazzatee thumbnail
gazzatee The Blues album that he always wanted to make, says Gwyn Ashton. Well we’ve been waiting for this little gem for a long time and thank goodness it has arrived - it’s a ripper!
Every track is a winner and a token of this troubadours skill and dedication to his art.
And if you don’t know who Gwyn Ashton is, well listen to “The Ballad of Gwyn Ashton” and then you’ll really know the man behind all of the great songs on Mojosoul.
A labour of love and recorded in exile, this album is a masterpiece!
/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £7 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    "Some of the best moments of his (Ashton's) career. 8/10"
    - Classic Rock Magazine (UK)
    "Ashton is right at home with this emotive, moving and bare-bones release. 8/10"- Power Play Rock and Metal (UK)

    Gwyn Ashton is back with a red hot new contemporary swamp blues, rock, folk album through Cadiz Music, London that hit the streets on May 12, 2023.

    Mojosoul celebrates his 50th anniversary of playing guitar and is Ashton’s 10th album release. 
    Ashton has previously recorded with members of Whitesnake, Deep Purple, Robert Plant's and Rory Gallagher's bands and many more.

    A total gear nerd for this album he has traded in his well-worn 1963 Fender Stratocaster to play bottleneck slide on a vintage 1930 National Triolian, open-tuned Gretsch Rancher 12-string, a D28 Martin and a 1962 Harmony H-75. 

    Locked down in Adelaide, South Australia during the pandemic, Gwyn Ashton put the time to good use recording a massive 110 brand new songs and we are proud to announce the first album to come out of these sessions.

    mojosoul  *Australia - BluesBeat Radio ‘Album of The Week’ Dec 8, 2022
    *#5 Australian Roots and Blues charts - January 2023 
    *USA - 'Album of The Week' Tinnitist.com Nov 18, 2022
    *UK - 'Album of The Week' - Aycliffe Radio, The Bear Blues Show
    *France - ‘Album of The Week’ Zicazic
    *Germany - ‘Album of The Week' - Groove Station - Jan 30, 2023
    *Netherlands - ‘Album of The Week’ Bluespotting. June 18, 2023 

    Includes unlimited streaming of mojosoul via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 2 days

      £15 GBP or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 16 Gwyn Ashton releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Get Outta Town, mojosoul, Get Outta Town, Ragas, Jugs & Mojo Hands, Beg, Borrow & Steel, Lonely On The Run, Take Yourself Away (single), In Isolation, and 8 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      £71.20 GBP or more (20% OFF)

     

1.
By Your Side 02:34
By Your Side By your side I’ll be By your side I will stay You have made me see And lit up my darkest day In the midnight hour When I feel I almost died You took my hand, let me by your side By your side I'm safe By your side there's no pain I don't need to escape From the ramblings of my brain In the darkest night When I hung my head and cried You took my hand, let me by your side Solo By your side I feel By your side you lead me home To a place that's real Out of my danger zone Gave me peace of mind When I crumble deep inside You took my hand, let me by your side
2.
Vanish Into Thin Air Early in the morning before the break of dawn She left me confused like I never was born She been acting kinda weird for a couple of days Not a word was uttered that she’d run away Where did you go, why did you vanish into air Vanish into thin air She packed up her belongings in the dead of night Did it when I was, out like a light Grabbed her bags and suitcase, then she hit the road Didn’t leave no explanation or her reason to go Where did you go, why did you vanish into air Vanish into thin air I’ll never know what happened or, where she went Or what the situation was that caused this event She didn’t even leave a note to tell me why I woke up in the morning and she’d gone bye bye She even left pile of dishes heading up to the sky And the lawn out back’s approaching 10 feet high
3.
No More 04:28
No More They could be lies, it could be truth No-one supplies the living proof We’re all supposed to trust what’s on the news It’s full of bias every day feeding us with games to play Never knowing where to seek the truth The media it contradicts And fills our minds with all its tricks Confusion of what now we have in store Manipulating are the games From people we don’t know their names Tell me Is it all worth dying for No promises, no more losses No more dying now No more smoke screens, from your machine No, more - stop it somehow. You’re playing us against ourselves Making life a living hell Confusing us with all your thought-out lies We’re told we’re crazy to believe And forcing us to deceive Our brothers now you say we should despise You’ve bought the TV and the press Now we’re in this total mess Causing chaos and we’ll pay the cost How many more should all die Or over tortured bodies cry For all the lives now that they have lost
4.
Take Your Medication Take your medication, take your medication, take your medication, Heaven knows Take your medication, take your medication Straight down the hatch it goes Swallow a lie that will set you free Swallow a lie that we all agree Swallow a lie that will sell your soul Swallow a lie that will swallow you whole CH Swallow a lie when you swallow that dream Swallow a lie you relate to that meme Swallow a lie for the easy road Swallow that lie and lighten your load CH Swallow a lie that will take you there Swallow the lie where the truth don’t dare Swallow a lie like you’ve been denied Swallow a lie: Are you satisfied? CH x2
5.
Allergic To Love Oh well my smile ain’t workin’ None of my lines ain’t workin’ My confidence is shot I must be jinxed from up above All I can think of is I must be allergic to love Can’t get no conversation In theis whole damn nation Every time I say a word They look at me like I’m absurd All I can think of is I must be allergic to love I think I lost what little I had A long long time ago What caused this mess is anybody’s guess I’ll never ever know Solo I bought a book on lovin’ I bought the video I got the dvd and blueray I watch the whole damn thing every day All I can think of is I must be allergic to love
6.
Cool Cool Water Washing my blue heart Washing it clean Washing the blue down the stream Washing my blue heart Till there’s no sign Of the stain she left behind Chorus Cool Cool water Fresh from the hills Fresh from the mountain stream Cool Cool water I need to chill I need to let off some steam Blue is the colour Of what’s going down What’s going down to the sea Blue is the colour The colour that drowns The blue of the yesterday’s me! Cool Cool water Fresh from the hills Fresh from the mountain stream
7.
The Blues Should Take A Holiday I’d like to take my blues and lay ‘em on down to rest But there ain’t no use, they’re here to put me to the test My heart is heavy my soul can’t stand the pain When I’m feelin’ good, the blues come back to start again I’m tired of cryin’ the pain won’t go away I feel like dyin’ the blues should take a holiday I feel so low I, got the shakes deep down inside The blues have won, I’m on the run there’s nowhere to hide There’s no escape, the blues are right here to stay There’s no debate, the blues should take a holiday
8.
The Thrill Ain’t Never Gone I was born in ‘59, at five years old I had the sign That I would be ramblin’ all my days From a caravan in Cardigan, that was where my life began Before we flew from Wales to Adelaide I hit the road in ’65, to only where the strong survive A boiling shed with sandals on my feet I went to school an immigrant, I did it tough and then we went Across the country in the scorching heat Seven days it took to drive, across to Perth the other side No hotel room, no air-conditioning Dirt road camping every night, feeling every insect bite I grew up knowing that the road was king In ’72, long ago, on my transistor radio I got the rock and roll bug day and night I tuned right in, listened hard, I got an old beat-up guitar A piece of junk, ten bucks would see me right At 12 years old I shared my bed, with my new friend, my fingers bled I never quit I just kept playing hard No other friend I had in sight, nothing else seemed quite right Other than to play my old guitar At age 16 I joined a band, playing all the one-night stands I cut my teeth on sleazy rockin’ dives I had a job I didn’t like; I kept on playing every night The morning had me working bleary-eyed My garage boss said I had to choose, between fitting tyres, playin’ the blues I told that fella quickly where to go Feeling highly liberated, I was broke but still celebrated My motto stronger - on with the show A V8 Chevy in my drive, broken down but still alive I loved that car and my guitar for sure I fixed the brakes, the carburettor, it never seemed to get much better But I kept that baby on the road for more Broken cars and broken vans, I made it through to other lands From Sydney, Melbourne on to London Town Gearboxes, tyres and engines, brakes, I’ve wrecked them all on several makes I’m now an expert just on breaking down I’m travellin’ round this big old world, playing with the guys and girls Who kept my inspiration topped right up A travellin’ gypsy I might be, I’ll roam from town to town you’ll see me somewhere on the road, I’ll never stop With BB, Buddy, Rory too, I’ve had the chance to play the blues Johnny Winter, Ray Charles and so on Some of these have passed away, without them I’d have never played All I know is the thrill ain’t never gone
9.
12,000 Miles From Home Back in 2019 when the world was still clean I packed up my guitar to go and play Down to the southern hemisphere, where I thought the skies were clear But the smoke through the air blew me away I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming As I drove round Adelaide town, Red skies as the sun goin’ down Out the door I ran, jumped into my van The western highway calling my name Across the desert heat, glued me to my seat Wasn’t expecting the air to be the same By the time I got to Melbourne, thought that I was Hell bound I was greeted with that smoke in the sky From 100 miles away, the whole city had turned grey I thought that I was surely gonna die I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming As I drove round Melbourne town, Red skies as the sun goin’ down The weather then changed, the skies turned to rain But the dust in the air turned rain to mud Battling through the storm, my wiper blades had torn Had to navigate slowly through the flood Travellin’ up the Hume, trnya get to my room In Canberra where my next gig was held The outskirts were on fire, flames were growing higher As I pulled into town about to melt I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming As I drove round Canberra town, Red skies as the sun goin’ down The show still went on, then down to Wollongong The next day I was back on the road All the trees were black, but I kept on down that track I thought the place was gonna explode Sydney Harbour called, so down the road I trawled All the gigs according to plan This one long episode shows the life on the road As a one-man blues-rockin’ band I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming As I drove round Sydney town, Red skies as the sun goin’ down A tropical storm, hit just after dawn On my way back to Melbourne for more But as I got to town there were talks of locking down Threatening the rest of my Australian tour So back to Adelaide, with all my dues well paid With 24 hours to spare Then all the borders closed, scrapping all remaining shows But 57 out of 60 was fair I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming The world shut down, on my own I couldn’t have seen it coming, couldn’t have seen it coming 12,000 miles from home
10.
The Perfect Day To Sing The Blues I got a heart full of anguish, a mind full of self-destruct My head’s in confusion, I’m a man down on his luck I got a dark cloud above me as I walk around in worn-out shoes The voice inside my head says it’s the perfect day to sing the blues I got a heavy in my chest that just won’t go away Got a heart full of sadness, a pile of dues I gotta pay I got an aching in my bones, that I’m trying so hard to lose The voice inside my head says it’s the perfect day to sing the blues I got a state of paranoia, feelings that I can’t control I got the devil’s grip inside me reaching deep into my soul It’s ripping me to pieces; I don’t know what to do The voice inside my head says it’s the perfect day to sing the blues

about

Gwyn Ashton announces mojosoul, the 10th album of his career, set for a November 14 release on Fab Tone Records, 50 years to the day that he started playing guitar.

The UK-based musician, former Virgin Records France artist and South Australian Music Hall of Fame inductee has toured in over 30 countries. He’s a storyteller who shifts from the personal to the acerbic and belatedly to the introspective, while his acoustic guitar playing is his best ever, illuminating the light and shade of his songs.

“This is my most personal album so far,” says Ashton. “It’s a song-driven, partly autobiographical album with occasional social commentary that has always been part of the best blues songs down the years.”

He’s at his most succinct and personal on the autobiographical “The Ballad of Gwyn Ashton”: “At 12 years old I shared my bed with my new friend, my fingers bled, I never quit, I just kept playing hard.”

Armed with a 1930 National steel guitar, a Martin acoustic, three 12-string acoustic guitars and an old 60s electric Harmony H-75 for the only electric track on the album, Ashton provides the perfect accompaniment to well-crafted songs occasionally beefed up by his foot percussion including kick, snare, hi hats, tambourine, and blues harp.



mojosoul is Gwyn Ashton’s versatile take on the blues, a musical journey
that stretches the genre from acoustic folk to ragtime, swampy
supercharged boogie and delta blues.

No note is wasted and each tone provides subtle counterpoint to his brusque blues vocal. He surprises us with the evocative “Yesterday’s Me (Cool, Cool Water)”, one of two Gary Allen co-writes on the album. Inspired by former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor with whom he toured, much like the closing “The Perfect Day To Sing The Blues”, it’s full of feel and delicate restraint.

Ashton is at his best on “12,000 Miles From Home”, a very catchy boogie about touring through the Australian bush fires, straight into the 2020 pandemic, locking him down in South Australia for an extended stay. He switches to a pulsating rhythm amplified by his acerbic lyrics on the political “No More” and then explores a funky feel to match Garry Allen’s withering lyrics on the second co-write, “Take Your Medication”.

Wisely, Ashton doesn’t preach but persuasively draws on his own life experiences to paint a believable narrative.
The Son House-inspired “By Your Side” illustrates the way he uses traditional gospel and blues influences in a contemporary setting on an aspirational song. He’s expansive on “Vanish Into Thin Air” and glances at his riff-driven past on acoustic 12-string track “Allergic To Love”.

This 10-song set offers plenty of contrast, subtle dynamics and, as his label name suggests, plenty of sumptuous tone to fill his mojosoul canvas.

credits

released November 14, 2022

Gwyn Ashton - vocals, guitars, foot drums

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Gwyn Ashton UK

contact / help

Contact Gwyn Ashton

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Gwyn Ashton, you may also like: