Sandwiched between San Diego’s Tape Deck Mountain and Portland’s [via England] grunge minimalist, Scout Niblett, was an intimate solo set from Greg Ashley. During the Thursday night performance, murmuring could be heard amung the audience about the identity of the person they were watching – "who is this?" "what’s this guys name?" It could have been the wine or possibly the years of experience playing with bands like Oakland’s Gris Gris and The Mirrors that made him seem so at ease on stage in this extremely personal set but Greg was relaxed and each song came out with that low-fi, mellow, vintage, slightly psychedelic sound that is somewhat if a trademark for Greg. The majority of the set consisted primarily of instrumental songs played on just an electric guitar with Greg sipping from one of the two glasses of wine he brought on stage.
Greg hasn’t put out a solo album since 2007’s Painted Garden, these days he’s spending time producing artists such as Brian Glaze, Powell St. John and Dutchess and The Duke but this Cafe du Nord set is perhaps a hint of some of the projects to come from Ashley in 2010.
-Nicole Leigh
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