Mark Ashton or Mark Ashton Vey (born Mark McVey; 23 June 1949) is a British painter, musician, compositer, ex-drummer of the English progressive rock band

Rare Bird Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band formed in 1969. They had more success in other European countries. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, they never charted with an album but charted with one single ...

Early life

Mark Ashton was born 23 June 1949, in

Bridge, Kent Bridge is a village and civil parish near Canterbury in Kent, South East England. Bridge village is in the Nailbourne valley in a rural setting on the old Roman road, Watling Street, formerly the main road between London and Dover. The village ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Soon he moved to Scotland and grew up in the Scottish countryside of Stirlingshire, near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. At a very young age, he shows a talent for drawing and music, and the passion for music soon predominated.

Music career

When he came back to England (

Herne Bay, Kent Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

) he joined his first band The Vikings as a drummer at 11 years old. The 2nd band Corvettes was voted the best band in Kent, U.K and played in a band which opened for acts such as

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

, at this time he began writing music. Formed his first band in 1965 Turnstile at 16 years old, began composing and released their first single Riding A Wave (Side B "Trot") on Pye Records. devoted to the original songs, as early as the single "Riding Wave" will be released by pie record.

Rare Bird

In 1968 Mark Ashton moved to London. he joined a band called

and their first single "Sympathy" became an international hit record, sold more than 2 million albums, and over 350 cover versions.

Headstone

After "Rare Bird", he quit the drums and concentrate to writing music. In 1974 Mark formed "HEADSTONE" and made two albums with Trident Production - EMI Records, 1st album Bad Habit (1974), the 2nd album Headstone (1975). Producer John Anthony has already produced the 1st Album of

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

(1968) and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

(1973).

Solo career

In 1976 he recorded his first solo album Mark Ashton L.A. in Los Angeles and the producer was Chris Bond (produced of

Hall & Oats Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two w ...

). Then the second solo album Solo Mark Ashton was recorded in England, the producer Alain Callan is the personal manager of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

New York, Los Angeles

In 1980 he moved to New York or Los Angeles and pursued a solo career. Impressed by the scenery of the US, so different from his native Scotland, Mark Vey rediscovered gradually his love of painting, parallel to his musical activities. In 1988, released the album Modern Pilgrims by R.C.A. Records.

US, Europe

1991 Recorded and produced his "New Volum of Music" L.A. 1993-1996: Sign with Sony Music Publishing Paris as comositeur. 1996-2002: Director of exclusive A/F APG Music (an independent record label) in New York. 1996 Begin as a painter and exhibits in New York, London, Barcelona, St. Tropez, Aix-en-Provence, Hambourg.

South of France

After 3 years painting in Spain, Mark Ashton moved to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

. His love for this famous

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

light has inspired his creations. And in parallel to his painting career he formed in 2012 his new "Mark Ashton project" with French musicians. Mark Ashton Vey exhibited in New York, London, Nice, Berlin etc. His paintings are on permanent display in various galleries around the world. Since 2015, he changed the style of his music more acoustic using

Hurdy Gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

Discography

1968: Turnstyle: Riding a wave (Pye Records) 1969: Rare_Bird: Rare Bird, Charisma Records, London 1970: Rare Bird: As Your Mind Flies By, Charisma Records, London 1974: Headstone: Bad habits (John_Anthony) EMI, London 1975: Headstone: Headstone (John Anthony) EMI, London 1976: Mark Ashton L.A. (Chris Bond) 20th Century Records, L.A. 1979: Solo (Alan Callan) Ariola Records, London 1988: Modern pilgrims (Paul Rothchild), RCA Records, L.A.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Mark Living people People from Bridge, Kent 1949 births People from Herne Bay, Kent Musicians from Kent