Biography
Born on 1 July 1942 in Oldbury near Birmingham in Warwickshire, England, Aston drew his earliest musical influences from his parents, both of whom performed old-time music hall numbers and contemporary popular tunes. He acquired his first guitar in 1957 amid the skiffle boom and joined a skiffle ensemble, though he consistently chose country material whenever he took the microphone. Seeking wider access to country music than Birmingham could provide, he moved to Doncaster in Yorkshire in 1966. He performed with various ensembles to build experience until March 1971, at which point he launched a solo career. His debut recordings appeared in 1973 with “The Old Lamplighter” and the original composition “I Haven’t Changed A Bit.” A television performance of the former track generated interest and opened doors on the British country club circuit. Beyond his albums, he has issued two EPs—Waylon & Willie on Bird’s Nest in 1978 and Together with Julie Allison on Future Earth in 1984—plus three cassette-only collections: Memories in 1988, The Old Lamplighter in 1989, and Evergreen in 1992. He has also contributed to sessions for other artists and toured Britain alongside visiting Americans Red Sovine in 1975 and Mac Wiseman in 1976. Over his extended involvement with the UK country scene he has earned multiple honors, among them the Radio & Record Mirror award for Top Solo Performer In Great Britain, which Mary Reeves Davis, widow of Jim Reeves, presented to him. One of his signature pieces, the ballad “Room Of Shadows,” came to him late one night while returning home along the motorway after a concert. Possessing an encyclopedic command of songs that reaches back to the music hall era, he occasionally challenges audiences during live shows to name a number outside his repertoire of more than 1,500 titles stretching to the 1920s, a challenge that seldom defeats him.