Wishbone Ash:  All these statements are largely true, but it was not always so. It’s been a long and sometimes hard 41 year journey for me. Wishbone Ash - the band of my dreams - has come a long way. As this rockumentary shows, the proof is here in this DVD. The greater Wishbone Ash family of musicians has had its ups and downs over the years, for sure. Everyone knows that. Of course, a lot of good music comes out of some dynamic tension - or struggle, if you will. Blood, sweat and tears got us to where we are today. The result is the musical legacy of a great band from all four decades of its existence. It’s finally easier to have fun with it all. I’m proud too. A lot of the lessons from the past go into the continuation of the band’s creative efforts. The band is the thing. The dream lives on! Teamwork produces great results. That has taken me literally years to figure out. You can see it clearly in the scenes from this sometimes, but not always, flattering DVD. Teamwork also figured greatly in our video team during the summer of 2009. Director Christian Guyonnet ( whose idea this project was ) along with veteran cameraman Christophe Petit and editor Mikael Samson, did a great job collectively as a team. Our audio engineer, Stephan Ernst, really surpassed himself capturing everything faithfully under sometimes difficult and makeshift conditions.
It was a brave decision by us, to get a French perspective on the band, since everyone knows the French documentary tradition always goes that little bit further, rarely shirking from showing the human condition, warts and all. A lot of faith and trust is needed from the artist to allow all of this to be displayed, but I was happy to hand things over to Christian, a no nonsense professional. It was also through him that we were introduced to our charming French hosts, Michel and Nathalie, who opened their house ( and wine cellar ) to the Ash. Rock & Roll is sometimes hard to play host to, but these folks ( now firm friends ) did it with both style and grace.
I question whether, back in the day, Wishbone Ash could or would have allowed such an intimate view behind the scenes during the creation of our music. It’s not always a warm and fuzzy feeling watching yourself navigate through the creative process. You have to be prepared to open yourself up. As a drummer looking for the groove for example, or in my case, when playing the rôle of band leader or in Christian’s case, as director, working to get the results he was looking for. Christian had a very subtle technique and an almost soft way of cajoling us to produce the results he was after. Though, we were mostly unaware when he and his camera team would come in for a ‘sneak attack.’ That is the true skill of the documentarist.
The DVD is finally complete, after struggling for over a year with the financing and time constraints on all of us, largely caused by our crazy tour schedule. Last week we asked that Christian and our editor, Mikael, produce for you, a 3 minute ‘teaser’ of the hour long DVD rockumentary "This Is Wishbone Ash”. There’s nothing more to add other than I’m really pleased with the result and hope you enjoy it too, especially if you get the chance to see the full version, which of course will be available for sale on all 50 plus upcoming tour dates throughout Europe. It is also now available through the merchandise section of this very website. I’m really happy it’s finally available just before Christmas, though in truth you might not be able to get hold of a copy until after the Holidays during those dark, pre - New Years days when it might prove an interesting distraction. It’s going to be great to share this with all true Wishbone Ash fans, as well as those casual music fans who might enjoy a fly-on-the-wall view of a band getting it all together in the French countryside. Enjoy.
Best Bones ~ A.P.