September 4^th- Couple of new magazines this month. Firstly, my very first cover feature for Modern Drummer magazine featuring the most talented Todd Sucherman from Styx. Todd is a fellow fan of all that is Keith Moon and shares not only this passion but also has quite the twisted sense of humor too. Have a peek at his words in my "QUOTES" section of the website.



Secondly, Guitar One's Guitar and Gaming magazine did a feature on my ol' mate Marcus Henderson of Guitar Hero game fame. They did a pretty nice job with it as well. Special thanks to Jimmy Hubbard at Guitar World for setting this up. Top bloke is Jimmy!
 
 

So it's been a bloody long time since I posted a blog here... Lots and lots of things have been happening and lots of things planned and organized. My apologies for the absence but hopefully the blogs will be a little more frequent than previously.

As I sit here and write this my arse is numb, I'm hungry and my flight to Glasgow has just left 3 friggin' hours late out of Newark, New Jersey... They ran through a crap load of pathetic excuses for the delay this time from poor weather, luggage problems to pixies jigging on the runway!



Anyhow, after placating Daisy Buttons this morning I'm now well on my way to Bonnie Scotland to kick off a couple of weeks out on the UK tour with My mates Def Leppard who kindly asked if I would be their photographer whilst they pay a visit home and play to the home crowds... Of course I obliged, I'd be mad not to as I grew up listening to them and as well as them being fine musicians they're all a jolly nice bunch of chaps from just down the road from my hometown in Yorkshire. Now if the pilot would just put his bloody foot down and get on with making up for lost time instead of feeding us excuses... By the way, the new Def Lep single "C'Mon C'Mon" is being released as a special 12" Vinyl featuring my pics of the guys on the cover... Check it out below...



So! What's been happening recently? Well...of course apart from the planning of me being on tour with the Lepps I've been busy setting other stuff up also. Took a short trip up to Austin a few weeks back and paid a visit to Todd Sucherman's home and studio for a cover shoot for an upcoming issue of Modern drummer magazine. For those of you that might not know, Todd is the very accomplished drummer for STYX, a fine band known for many 80's hits who are still going strong to this day. As well as being one of the finest drummers and rhythm technicians out there Todd like myself happens to be one of the biggest Keith Moon fans. Of course this meant an instant connection and barrage of Moonie trivia and quotes... A few hours later and several set ups in Todd's more than adequate home studio at his beautiful home we're done with the shoot and quite pleased with the results... Time for a quick bevy and a few personal pics and I'm back down the road for a short 4 hour drive home... 4 hours is a quick run out for us Texas folks y'all ;O)
 


Al Jourgensen and the Ministry boys are still out there doing their farewell tour and have now invaded the European shores with their volley of Industrial Metal and mayhem. Check out a couple of my pics below that have been used recently.



Popped up to San Antonio a couple of weeks back to shoot and hang out with my mates in Hatebreed and Type O Negative. The Hatebreed fellas layed it on thick and heavy as usual and worked the crowd up into what can only be described as a sweaty spumescent froth of enthusiasm whilst Type O Negative continued to secure their place in my top 5 favorite bands of all time... I love these guys on and off stage. They're all so different personality wise but their music bonds them into a brotherhood of gothic metal that just keeps their fans coming to shows. Got to spend time hanging and catching up with Pete Steele before and after the show. It was nice to see him again and he seems to be in a bit better place than when we last spoke. By the way, ol' Pete is not stood on a box or anything for that matter�he is that tall!!
 


Here's a full page EMG Pickups ad that's running in Guitar player magazine this month. This pic is from a session I did in January with the legendary guitarist Steve Lukather at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Smashing bloke with a wicked sense of humor and he laughs at my stupid jokes and limericks so he's alright in my book...hehehehehe...If you ever get bored then Google Steve Lukather and look up his discography and be prepared to be amazed at just how many well know songs and albums that he's contributed to in his colorful career...VERY impressive!


Total Guitar Magazine (UK) feature on my buddy Marcus Henderson, the man behind the guitars on the Guitar Hero games that everyone loves to play... Pics by yours truly in this feature.



Well, they just served dinner here on the plane... Folks are nodding off to sleep and turning out their lights for now. We land in Glasgow in a few hours and I get to check in to the hotel before the Lepps arrive this afternoon. Must get some rest for a couple of hours before and then clean my sleazy ass up a bit.

ASH

I feel like crap today! Was up until the late hours last night editing photos for my mate Daniel Adair, drummer for Nickelback. Daniel's a top bloke and a first class drummer...like Nickelback's music or not, he can beat the arse off a lot of today's metal drummers and still have energy left for a smoke and a pancake! He's having a new website done and phoned me the other day asking for a selection of fine images that show him at work...



Might be heading back out to California soon for a magazine feature but am still waiting to hear finer details at this point. Should be fun if it comes off and the opportunity to hang out again with birthday boy Marcus Henderson of Guitar Hero fame should be fun as always... Hopefully he won't try and shag any ornamental animals this time! He's 35 years young today so if you see a long haired skinny man running naked though the streets of San Francisco today it's not a one man gay parade...it'll just be Marcus letting off steam!



It's about that time for Easter when folks like me can't dress up kids that they don't have...right? Wrong! Daisy may not be a rock star but she sure as hell knows how to act like one and can belt out a tune better than some with record contracts! She's better looking and much better behaved than any member of Avenged Sevenfold as today's photo session shows! PLUS... She's getting email and has quite the growing fan club so go figure!


Happy frickin' Easter!
ASH

Well Well Welcome to this crisp new website! Slicker than a fresh pail of baby poop and fresher smelling than an English Meadow! So! Where did I leave off? Hmmmm...NAMM in Los Angeles...what a zoo of a place, 88,000 vendors, buyers, musicians and many more checking out all the new music industry tools and instruments, artist appearances a virtual assault on the senses and is totally relentless from start to finish each and signings over a 4 day period! The noise in these giant halls is astounding! It's day. There's no bloody wonder that we all hit the bar at the Hilton right after the show!!

So I got to Anaheim Wednesday, flight on time, nice rental car. Got to the hotel and Expedia.com's computer system screwed up the bloody reservation... No confirmation and no rooms! Two hours later expedia.com has a new orifice and Ash has an even better hotel and a bigger discount! Cue Marcus Henderson of Guitar Hero game fame...my room mate fresh from a secret TV show audition in Burbank... After a quick freshen up we head out for a quick bite and then hit the bar at the Hilton where we proceeded to imbibe the local liquid offerings. Saw my mates Marco Mendoza and Doug Aldrich from Whitesnake and spent some time catching up whilst Marcus Henderson rediscovered his passion for ornamental animal anatomy...

Thursday I headed up to the Hollywood Hills to famed guitarist and songwriter Steve Lukather's home for a photo shoot with him for EMG. Found him to be really easy going and he laughed at my crappy jokes so he's alright in my book. Got some great pics that I'm real happy with including ones of him with his very cute Pug "Swink".

Back at NAMM Friday, saw so many of the folks I've worked with or shot over the last couple of years trolling around the aisles and checking out all the new gear... Bumped into Jason Bonham on his way to do a signing... Chit chatted for a while and caught up with him about the Zep thing, Def Lep etc...

The guys at EMG Pickups really did a bang up job with my photos on their stand this year featuring a ton of my photography. Neil Zlozower even payed me compliment on the work! Not to mention the 2008 EMG Calendar with 9 months of 12 featuring my artist pics.

All in all a great NAMM show, new clients, and reconnected with old friends, tons of networking and new business possibilities... I'll let the pics show the rest...