User:Caliginous1979/sandbox

Ashbury is a rock band from Tucson, Arizona formed in 1980. The current line-up consists of Rob Davis (vocals, guitar), Randy Davis (vocals, guitar), John Bujak (guitar, backing vocals), Joey Moreno (bass) and John Gimmler (drums). Since 1983, Ashbury have released three studio albums: Endless Skies (1983), Something Funny Going On (2004) and Eye of The Stygian Witches (2018).

History
Brothers Rob and Randy Davis were born into a military family with their father serving in the United States Army. As a result, the family moved a lot in the brothers’ childhood, including living in France for three years. Rob Davis attributes their love of music as coming from their father, Robbie “Jerry” Davis, an award winning singer-songwriter who loved artists such as Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash. At first the brothers were not interested in playing or performing music, being more interested in sports, however by their teenage years they were both playing guitar and bass and began working on their vocal harmonies together. Largely self-taught, they listened to a wide variety of music styles with Randy Davis especially enjoying the hard-rock bands emerging in the 1970s. Randy Davis began working as a full-time musician in 1976, playing guitar for a country house band in southern Oklahoma, an experience he says he did not enjoy. At the same time he joined a band named Rigid Spur which played across Oklahoma and Texas. Rob Davis joined Rigid Spur as their sound engineer, however the band would eventually fold as other members were not interested in touring. Randy put together a new four-piece band in 1978 named Ashbury South, which played covers of bands who were influences on the musicians, such as Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Styx and Aerosmith. Rob Davis was again the sound engineer of Ashbury South, and band enjoyed some success as a renowned live act with tight dual guitars and four-part vocal harmonies. The brothers worked with numerous other bands at this time including Redliner and Prophet as well as with some major label acts such as Leslie West and Spirit. Ashbury South would eventually disband due to an accident that left a band member with a shattered leg, and in 1980 the Davis brothers moved back to Tucson.

The brothers’ intention was to form a new hard-rock band, however they made a living playing acoustic sets while they searched for the right band members for their new project. They would eventually recruit drummer Dave Carpenter, guitarist Lee Smith and former Ashbury South member Noal Morris on bass. They debuted as Ashbury at The Night Train club in Tucson towards the end of 1980. The name Ashbury was taken from the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, signifying “straight forward American rock.”

Despite achieving acclaim as a live band and winning the 1981 battle of the bands in Phoenix, Ashbury was at this point still a cover band. The brothers realised that to forge their identity as a band they would have to write original material, which they did over the next two years, culminating in the recording sessions for their first full-length LP, Endless Skies. The album was performed and recorded by three people – Rob and Randy Davis and Johnny Ray who replaced Dave Carpenter on drums. The album was recorded in January and February and released in May of 1983. Although limited to a vinyl pressing of one thousand copies (these first pressings are highly sought after collector’s items today) it was well received and enjoyed extensive radio play and sales through Tower Records. Rob Davis travelled to LA to pursue major label interest, which he found to be lacking. Polydor showed some interest in the band, but asked them to change their sound and image, which the brothers refused to do. Ashbury resumed playing live but the brothers both became increasingly frustrated at the band’s lack of commercial success and the state of the music industry in the US in the early 1980s. Becoming disillusioned, Rob left the band and began working as a DJ in Phoenix. Soon after Randy decided to leave as well and Ashbury was disbanded. Rob Davis has said that he regrets leaving the band at the time that he did, and that “in hindsight, we should have gone to Europe.” In 1997 the band was contacted by a record seller in the US who wanted to know if any original vinyl copies of Endless Skies were still available. The brothers supplied him with fifty and he almost immediately asked for more, telling them: “you’ve got quite a cult following in Europe.” From there the brothers started playing Ashbury songs together again, and looked at the possibility of releasing a second album. They turned their attention to material that had originally been written for the unreleased follow-up to Endless Skies, and began forming this into completed songs. The long-awaited second Ashbury album, Something Funny Going On, was released in 2004. This time around Rob and Randy performed all duties on the recording, with Randy playing drums. The album was recorded in the brothers’ home studio and initially released on CD, with a vinyl release appearing in 2010. With a renewed interest in the band and a new generation of fans, Ashbury found themselves being invited to play shows in the US and festivals in the European summer where they realised that despite the popularity of their past work there was a strong desire amongst fans for new material. Having showcased many of their new songs over several years at their shows and festival appearances, they released their third album, Eye of the Stygian Witches to critical acclaim in 2018. Musical style and influences

Rob and Randy Davis have cited a wide variety of bands as influences, including: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Styx, Aerosmith, the Scorpions, Blue Oyster Cult, the Allman Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Dan Fogelberg, and Al Di Meola. The brothers have claimed however that their primary influence always was and remains Jethro Tull, stating: ‘Ian (Anderson) is the greatest composer/performer and band leader of the 20th century–simple as that. Critics often compare their style to Wishbone Ash, particularly the use of vocal harmonies and strong lead guitar melodies and the brothers have stated they are Wishbone Ash fans themselves. Whilst maintaining a hard-rock edge in many of their songs, the brothers are adamant that they are not a heavy metal band despite having a large fan base in this community (see below). Rob Davis has stated that he prefers to classify Ashbury as an “epic rock band.”

Embracement by the heavy metal community

When Ashbury was in the process of writing for Endless Skies, an associate of the band suggested they write a heavier song “with a metal edge” to include on the album. Randy Davis then immediately wrote the opening riff to Vengeance, to which Rob added vocal melodies and lyrics, based on the Nazgul Black Riders from Lord of the Rings. While the track was completed quickly, it has endured as a fan favourite from the Endless Skies album, and is, according to Randy, “the most popular song on the album with metal fans.” Ashbury’s resurgence in popularity, particularly in Europe, can be attributed to their albums being popular amongst the heavy metal community. This in turn has led to Ashbury appearing at heavy metal summer festivals in Europe, such as Keep It True in Germany and Muskelrock in Sweden. They have also made several appearances at the Frost and Fire festival in California, in their native US. Rob Davis has stated regarding their embracement by the heavy community: “it's still a little bit of an enigma, because we are not a metal band. I feel like the hybrid cousin of the metal community because we are not a metal band, yet we are welcomed, embraced and treated like we are just one of the family. So, it's really wonderful.”

Band Members
Current members
 * Randy Davis – lead guitar, vocals
 * Rob Davis – vocals, acoustic guitar
 * John Bujak – guitars, harmony vocals
 * Joey Moreno – bass
 * John Gimmler – drums
 * Eddie Hosmer – bass

Former members
 * Dave Carpenter – drums
 * Johnny Ray – drums
 * Lee Smith – guitars
 * Noal Morris – bass

Discography
Studio albums
 * Endless Skies (1983)
 * Something Funny Going On (2004)
 * Eye of the Stygian Witches (2018)