Aynsley has never been an artist to reheat the music of yesteryear. Influenced from an early age by the 60’s RnB era, Lister takes these key elements and mixes them with a more current and melodic lyrical approach.

He is one of very few artists playing rocking blues with a modern edge -tangible, heartfelt, soul searching and full of fine songwriting; played with passion and vitality. His hard hitting rhythms and guitar work are reminiscent of a young Clapton.

Since signing to Ruf Records, Lister has recorded four solo studio albums, and two live albums – one solo acoustic and one along with a live DVD for Germanys ROCKPALAST TV show. He has sold over 75,000 records and now headlines many of the major festivals throughout Europe where he has played alongside blues legends such as Buddy Guy, John Mayall, and Robert Cray as well as big name pop artists such as Bryan Adams and Fun Lovin’ Criminals. His recorded work has seen him working with Producers Jim Gaines (Santana, SRV) and Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia)

In more recent times 2006 saw Lister recording in Clarksdale, Mississippi and Memphis Tennessee where he worked again with Jim Gaines on the Ruf Records collaboration ‘Pilgrimage’. With Gaines producing Lister debut for the label in 1999, it was almost 7 years to the month that they had previously worked together. In September of that year his album ‘Everything I Need’ was released stateside in preparation for this years debut tour.

UPSIDE DOWN is Lister’s fourth studio album and his first to contain all originals. Every aspect and quality that his fans have now come to expect is there, from the raunchy guitar, the melodic voice to the infectious songs but to simply pronounce this release another worthwhile effort would be an injustice indeed: The result is his strongest, boldest and most compelling album to date that could quite easily crossover into the mainstream

In reality his career is just getting started – he has the ability to reach such a wide-ranging audience from teenagers to folks who grew up in a time when real artists mattered. Right now Aynsley Lister has everything he needs to turn the world upside down…

The personal stuff
Aynsley picked up the guitar at 8 and played his first gig at 13. One year later on a family trip to San Francisco, he was jamming at ‘Lou’s Bar’ on Pier 49. Brought up on his father’s record collection, he had learned to play by ear and would sit for hours in his bedroom playing along to old 45s of Freddie King, John Mayall and Eric Clapton. He spent the next few years honing his craft and would play with anyone, anywhere.

By the time he was 18, he had worked his way through various bands and decided to form his own. The band recorded two albums, but it was the second of these two that started things happening. Aynsley had begun writing and it was the three original numbers of this album that attracted the attention of Ruf Records’ head honcho Thomas Ruf. In the summer of 1998, they signed a deal. Armed with an album worth of original songs and a handful of cover’s, Aynsley went into the studio with Producer Jim Gaines and set to work of his first major album. It would prove to be the start of a long and fruitful career taking him over the next few years all over Europe ,and working with some of the top names on the circuit.

Aynsley’s myspace profile can be found at: www.myspace.com/aynsleylister

Aynsley’s ‘Electronic Press Kit’ (EPK) can be found at www.sonicbids.com/aynsleylister

The Band

Jo Nichols - Bass
Jo joined Aynsley in June 2006 to complete the new line up. Born and raised in Oxford, she studied music in Birmingham and graduated in 2003. Since then she has played and toured non-stop including sessions on BBC radio and a tour of Canada last year.

Jo is just fresh from the studio after playing bass on Aynsley’s latest album ‘UPSIDE DOWN’

Rich Spooner - Drums
Joining Aynsley back in May 2006, Richard Spooner or ‘Doc Spoons’ as he is affectionately known in the drum world, first picked up a pair of sticks at the age of 14.

A seasoned session player for many years, including various TV/radio session appearances (BBC/ITV/CH4/MTV), Rich is also the in-house drummer/percussionist for ‘The Groove Criminal’ production team. This has seen Doc’s moves featured on several commercial sample CDs and the cover CDs/DVDs of both Future Music and Computer Music magazines.

In addition to this, Rich can also be seen on the ‘Clinic’ circuit with Mapex and Paiste and also in Drummer magazine with his own monthly tuition column.

When not hitting something drum related, Rich takes time out on his mountain bike where apparently he is even more of a nutter than he is behind the kit!

Rich is proud to endorse:

Ludwig Drums & Hardware
Paiste Cymbals
Hardcase Cases
Bigfoot Beaters
Vater Sticks
Remo Drumheads
TunerFish
Baskey Rugluggs
PlainLazy Clothing
http://www.docspoons.com

http://www.myspace.com/docspoons