After being Sarah McLachlan's guitar player for a dozen years, Sean Ashby is going it alone.
For the last three years Ashby has crisscrossed the country touring small towns and big.
"Now I'm on tour number two million eight," Ashby said with a laugh, saying he does about 200 shows a year.
As Ashby's tour took him into the States, he said he's now in a genre he never thought he'd fit into, being a Canadian artist.
Ashby released his debut album in '08 called Brass and Gold followed by last year's 24 Hours of Daylight. His next album is still in the works, however he will be showcasing his new music on tour.
"I like to tour test my songs by playing them live," said Ashby. "The songs go through an evolution before I record them if I play them on tour for a while. I start changing things and tightening up the screws and nuts and bolts on them that way. Kinda like bands used to do in the '70s. I really like doing that and I'm not sure if everybody else does that or not, but it seems to work."
It was quite a wild ride during his time with McLachlan, Ashby said, with Grammy Award appearances, as well as spots on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live and David Letterman. He has also played with Delerium, Ginger (former Grapes of Wrath).
Ashby's quitar playing has appeared on CDs with sales in excess of 10 million copies worldwide.
"Music for me is like a calling. I know that sounds kind of corny, but I just always have played music and I am always driven to write songs and play music and that's all I ever really do," said Ashby. "That's how I'm wired."
Ashby likes to write about relationships, but there's something else that inspires him, too.
"I also like to write about historical characters of the old West," he said. "I like the twangy guitar."
"It's a bit of a guitar show," he said. "I bring seven guitars to the stage and I switch it around."
Ashby will be performing at the Twisted Cork, 1157 Fifth Avenue, Saturday at 8 p.m.
At the show, he will play a lot of his own songs as well as a few covers thrown in.
Tickets are $10 at the door.
