Band of brothers
Ash Wilson is the lead guitarist with Kiefer Sutherland’s band. Roger Belton caught up with the Lincolnshire musician at their rehearsal studio in the Wolds.
Anyone interested in the contemporary music scene may be aware that Kiefer Sutherland, acclaimed film and television actor and frontman in his eponymous band ‘Kiefer’, is about to embark on a 33-date European tour spanning Warsaw to Dublin.
What is less well known is that the ‘A’ list Hollywood star of The Lost Boys and Stand By Me, will be flanked on stage by two Lincolnshire brothers, Ash and Phil Wilson from Burgh le Marsh, who will be playing lead guitar and drums respectively.
It’s been a lengthy journey from playing Skegness bars to appearing alongside one of the most recognisable stars in the film world, but Ash’s pathway is fascinating.
His family all shared a love of music and regularly held “music nights” during which influences such as Genesis and Eric Clapton blasted out of the latest stack system: “I remember hearing ‘Money for Nothing’ by Dire Straits and that was a transformative moment for me,” says Ash.
It could be assumed his passion for making music began in his formative years when he had piano lessons as a seven-year- old whilst at primary school, but in truth Ash never felt inspired and was soon ready to curtail his efforts.
He explains: “My parents kept telling me, ‘we’ve bought you a piano and we’ve paid for lessons so keep at it’, but my heart was never in it. Then one day my cousin from Lancaster arrived with an acoustic guitar and the fire was lit. I liked the idea of it, but I wanted an electric guitar!”
His parents were persuaded to buy Ash an iconic Stratocaster. “I liked the name… and very soon, at the age of 14, I loved playing my own guitar!”
Lessons soon followed during which, “I realised I had an innate ability to play the instrument. I enjoyed the process of spending hours and hours honing my skills playing it. . . until I really could play it.”
His earliest influences were Hank Marvin, The Shadows, Genesis and, to his parents’ disapproval, Guns N’ Roses!
At the age of 16, Ash was a music student at Boston College and soon formed his own blues band, The Melt, which played locally.
“The best thing about living in Skegness was that there was a scene for music. You could play up to three times per week in bars and you could play your own original songs – you didn’t even need to play a cover set.”
Soon The Melt spread their wings to Boston and Spalding, and then further afield to Nottingham and Mansfield. “Next, we were on the circuit nationally and asked to play festivals, always remaining proud of our Skegness origins.”
Overcoming challenges
However, in 2005, after four years and despite playing bigger and better gigs, and having recorded a well-received album and performed “pockets of shows” rather than tours, the band abruptly disbanded.
Ash needed to sustain himself financially and at first taught guitar in schools before moving on to Access to Music College in Lincoln during which time he also formed indie band Djune, who rapidly found a following.
“We started playing outside Lincolnshire opening for bands such as Ocean Colour Scene, Athlete and British Sea Power. Record companies were interested but we never had a ‘song’ – a potential hit.
“The zenith of our success was when we hired the Embassy Theatre in Skegness, attracted an audience of three or four hundred and just about broke even. We disbanded!”
Meanwhile younger brother Phil had carved his own niche in the musical world. Six years younger and a prodigiously gifted drummer, he had played in Ash’s band when he was just 14, and started his professional career at 16; a chance last-second opportunity to play in Amsterdam was grabbed.
Ash had formed Infamous Vampires, who played in bars around Lincoln, but was resigned to recognising that he was unlikely to join his brother as a professional musician when he was unexpectedly contacted by Sean Webster with an offer to join his band – Phil had already agreed to be the drummer.
Now a “sideman” rather than fronting a band, Ash spent a year finishing work at Lincoln Music College on a Thursday at 5pm, playing several gigs over the weekend in The Netherlands and arriving back to work in Lincoln at 8.45am on Monday morning.
“It’s amazing what your body can get you through when you’re in your late 20s!”
Ash resigned from his teaching role in order to tour with Sean Webster all over Europe. “I was nearly 30 and had never been on a lengthy tour. Now I considered myself a real musician!”
Big breaks
Now married with a young child, Ash had other responsibilities so quit the band and focussed on writing and pursuing his own projects, often with Phil, and went on to write and record his first solo album, Broken Machine released in 2018.
“I was stunned when it entered the iTunes Blues chart,” he admits, although Ash is too modest to mention that at this point he was regarded as one of the ‘20 Best Blues Guitarists in the World’.
A tour and several festivals followed, some as far away as Russia, to promote the album, and Ash’s big break came after he opened in London for Sari Schorr, who had already been inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame: “We hit it off big time and she asked me to become her guitar player.”
Although it was not an easy decision to pause his burgeoning solo career, “Sari was on a higher plane than me and here was a chance to make regular money which would justify me being away from my family so much. The allure of working for a singer of Sari’s calibre meant I took no persuading.”
How Ash and Phil came to work with Kiefer Sutherland was the result of a particularly convoluted twist of fate.
During the pandemic, Kiefer’s European tour was cancelled, but he was contractually obliged to complete it once he was able to go out on the road again, which also had to fit around his filming schedule.
By this time Nathan Clark, a former colleague from Access To Music in Lincoln, had become Kiefer’s full-time tour and music manager. Ash was approached to form a replacement band, and he brought along brother Phil, Roger Innis and Adrian Gautrey.
“Kiefer was an artist playing the rockier end of Nashville Country Americana, not really in my wheelhouse, but we jumped at the chance to audition, which was terrifying. As a child of the 1980s, I was an avid fan of this actor and we had all the box sets of his television drama 24 at home. The idea of working professionally with Kiefer Sutherland was surreal.”
On tour with Kiefer
Having passed the audition and rehearsed intently, while also beginning to build a close relationship, the band set off to the continent in spring 2023.
“On tour Kiefer is just one of the guys. I had my own bunk on the tour bus next to his and the whole Hollywood persona just melts into the background.
“We went on a ‘guitar safari’, visiting music shops together for equipment. At this point I wasn’t expecting it to happen again, so I just wanted to wallow in it.”
After years of paying his dues in his quest to rise to the top of his profession, the moment had finally arrived for Ash.
“We had a tour bus, and stayed in plush hotels when we had a short break in the tour. Our first gig in Hungary was at an airport on the runway. There were screens everywhere with images of Kiefer, the stage was set up exactly as it had been in rehearsal, and the ‘set’ was dressed with an array of planes!
“At the soundcheck our own guitar technicians were on hand and I had nothing to do afterwards except relax in the hotel before the concert. It was a whole new experience!
“We got the ball rolling there and the tour, which culminated in Edinburgh, was a great success.”
There followed a second European tour with Kiefer for the Wilson brothers in 2025, and this time it included a “homecoming” show for Ash, Phil and Nathan at The Drill in Lincoln.
“We’d been on the road for three weeks and now we were coming home. It felt like a really celebratory moment. It was lovely to play a venue to which I’d been frequently, to watch other bands.
“We sold out for two nights and it was amazing, plus, you don’t often tour on that sort of level and get to sleep in your own bed!”
Spring dates
The band are set to embark on their extensive spring 2026 ‘Love Will Bring You Home’ tour, the name a reference to a song co-written by Ash and Kiefer that will be played live, but is yet to be released.
Tour stops include Stockholm, Vienna, Milan and Dublin and 12 in Britain. A new album entitled Grey will follow.
What ambitions does Ash still harbour? “I would love to do Glastonbury. Kiefer has played there before so it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility. I’ve done Latitude, and several huge festivals on the continent, including one in Denmark with 15,000 in attendance and where Diana Ross was also on the bill. And I’ll continue to collaborate with Kiefer on writing new material. We’re in constant contact between tours.”
Family life
The lifestyle of a touring musician includes several weeks away from home driven on by adrenalin-fuelled performances, followed by extended downtime.
“On a six-week tour you become a family on the road. There’s about 14 of us, you grow fond of each other and then it all comes to an end. You get the post-tour blues and have to recalibrate at home as everyone’s life has moved on while you’ve been away.
“After I sat my two young children down to watch The Three Musketeers they thought Kiefer was really cool, and knowing that I now play in a band alongside him, they think their dad is pretty cool too!”
Ash admits that it’s family that is his tie to Lincolnshire, and enjoys walking, rambling and cycling with them.
“At this stage of our careers, Phil and I are both getting enough work to live anywhere, and as I’ve grown older the allure of the bright lights and the city-based music scene has dimmed. Lincolnshire provides the perfect antidote to living on the road. I always look forward to its comfort and safety.
“Phil has recently diversified so that, in addition to his drumming, he has been working as a producer and mix engineer for a variety of bands.
“I’m so grateful that I get the opportunities to do what I love to do and I earn enough to live. I know it might not last forever, but I have a fabulous quality of life and am fulfilled by having the opportunity to extend myself artistically and creatively.”
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