Guitarist and singer-songwriter Sean Ashby is once again returning to Ladysmith but will play at a new venue this year at the Oyster Bay Cafe.
The guitarist in Sarah McLachlan’s band for over a decade at the height of her career, Ashby has recorded with the likes of Delirium, Ginger (formerly Grapes of Wrath) and ‘D’ from Run-D.M.C., as well as performed at the Grammy Awards, on Saturday Night Live and the late night talk show circuit.
“I’m not really trying to get famous, I just like to play a lot of shows,” he said of his current solo career which has him on the road full time when he’s not at home in Winnipeg.
Ladysmith is his only Vancouver Island stop and Ashby is touring with no less than seven different guitars including his favourite, the Burns Black Bison - a British surf guitar used by the Ventures and the Shadows during the 1960s.
“It’s like a stratocaster but different. It’s sort of twangier and weird sounding in a good way,” he said. “It’s really awkward to play. There’s a strange weight to the body of it.”
From Hot Rod Lincoln, a fast-picking country song to Black Bird, which he recorded with McLachlan for the I Am Sam album, Ashby likes to mix up his set list.
“I try not to be super obvious with the covers but try and make it so it’s fun. I like to reward the audience,” he said, adding that the Pulp Fiction score is also a hit with audiences.
Ashby was the lead singer in the Vancouver band Jack Tripper before going on to release five solo albums since 2008, including a collection of surf guitar hits in 2015.
“I have a surf guitar album and I pepper that throughout the night with instrumentals from the 50s and 60s,” he said.
His guitar collection includes three types of slide guitars, one of which is a Weissenborn lap steel guitar, or simply a Hawaiian slide guitar.
As the guitarist in McLachlan’s band from 1996 to 2008, he recorded on her Mirrorball Live CD and Afterglow studio album which combined sold over eight million copies in the U.S.
“It exploded as soon as I got in there so it was just really good timing,” he said.
“It was wonderful but it was easier in some ways because all I was doing was playing guitar.”
As a solo act, Ashby uses pre-recorded drums and bass to accompany him on guitar.
“I like it and it’s also really challenging. There’s a lot of activity in my mind to pull it off,” he said.
“You try and make it look like it’s effortless but it’s quite a bit of work.”
Doors for the all ages show at Oyster Bay Cafe open at 6 p.m. with the show getting underway at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10, or $25 with a dinner, dessert and drink, and are available at In the Bean Time or the Oyster Bay Cafe.