ASHLEY

Ashley’s new CD, Twelve Days In January, made me look stupid.
I’m sure he didn’t mean to do it, but anyway, here’s what I mean: I have a friend who has this habit of listening to the same CD over and over again, 50 times a day, until he knows the whole thing backwards and forwards. It drives me nuts, and I was just giving him hell for it the other day. So when he got into my car for the third time and I was still listening to the same CD, again, I had to eat some serious crow.

So maybe it is Ashley’s fault. Anyway, his first full-length record is a lot of fun, and very hard to take out of the CD player.
Twelve Days In January combines catchy, radio-ready choruses with enough Indie style to make it credible and take it out of the generic singer-songwriter mold. “Come Into Love” and are perfect Indie radio-rock tunes, with heavy guitars, cool-but-simple chord progressions, and totally memorable choruses (think Foo Fighters meets Bob Dylan).

I saw Ashley perform live at the Belly Up nearly a year ago, and hadn’t heard a single tune since then, but I remembered “Come Into Love” the second it came on to start the CD. Not something I could say about most up-and-coming artists.

But the guy has range, too. “Back To You” could be a Paul Simon song, complete with jangly guitars and a sentimental melody. Even the slow songs on this record are actually good.

Ashley was born in South Africa and raised in Canada. He taught himself to play guitar at 19. In ‘99 he moved to San Diego to make music full-time. This is his first full-length record, and it’s clear he’s put years of his life into the material.


- By Harley Orion – Surf City Weekly Times

"Ashley is an inspiring musician with intelligent, heart felt lyrics and great hooks” - Travis Storch - PD Live365 Internet Radio Network

Ashley prepares to embark on next stage of growing music career

Carlsbad may be known as North County's place to go clubbing, but several miles south on Coast Highway, Encinitas is developing a reputation as the place to be for live music.

Musicians, singers and songwriters are finding plenty of fans savoring the sound of an acoustic six-string vs. the canned beat of a club DJ. Among those artists at the forefront of the Encinitas live music scene is Ashley, a South Africa-born singer-songwriter who has found not only a creative environment in which to continue his musical career, but a community that supports and nurtures its artists.

"There's a thriving music scene in Encinitas," said Ashley, 33, whose self-produced 10-song independent CD was released earlier this year and is garnering plenty of praise. "Everyone here has taken me in. It's amazing how one little community can offer so much support. It's often hard to break into that local circle when you're from the outside, but I've received nothing but support and love here."

Ashley, whose music blends rock and pop with a rootsy, almost country feel, is giving back the love as well during the holidays. On Saturday, Ashley will play two acoustic sets between 4 and 6 p.m. at the annual Raw Skin Surf N' Sport holiday party in Carlsbad, and on Sunday he will perform with his full band at the E Street Cafe as part of a holiday food and toy drive to benefit the Encinitas Community Center.

Not only is music Ashley's passion, it's now his full-time profession. He landed in coastal North County several years ago via Toronto after visiting a friend here on vacation. Already having developed a measure of musical success in Canada, Ashley decided to make a go of it in California.

"Ever since I was a kid, we'd talk about California," he said, his New Zealand accent blending quite nicely with full-on Encinitas surf jargon. "There was a pulse about it; I knew it was a magical place. So I came here on holiday to see my best friend, who lives in Carlsbad, and I was hooked."

Similarly, the music bug had also bitten Ashley. He had what he termed a "pretty good band" in Toronto, even though he didn't begin playing guitar until late in high school, and he had done some acting.

"One day I picked up a guitar and started playing chords; next thing I knew I was writing songs," he said. "A music teacher heard me and said, 'What?! You shouldn't be writing like this.' "

Shortly thereafter, Ashley was performing before large crowds and still writing songs when he was discovered by a popular radio morning show in Toronto. They had him perform jingles and radio bits ---- all while still a senior in high school.

Ashley soon formed the band Babblefish ---- named after the little earpiece from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The band gained a degree of popularity, yet, as is the fate of most bands, egos got in the way, and Babblefish ultimately broke up. Despite the band's dissolution, Ashley's push for a musical career was in high gear.

To support himself, Ashley worked in information technology ---- he still can build an attractive Web site (themusicashley.com). Following Babblefish's breakup in 1999, Ashley took his IT knowledge and his guitar and headed south to California.

His first attempt to record an album abruptly ended when the producer died several days before the session was to start. Three weeks later, Ashley's mother died.

The tragedies helped build Ashley's resolve. By late 2003, Ashley was formally plotting out his musical career.

"That October I began seriously talking to people about the music business and started strategizing," he said. "I hooked up with a producer, and Joseph Garrie, who's into real estate here locally, became one of my main supporters."

Ashley began recording "Twelve Days in January" in early 2004 ---- hence, the album's name ---- at Den Records in Pasadena, showcased his music in Orlando, Fla., and spent the next two years meeting people and learning the music business.

The dedication paid off. VH1's Save the Music Foundation named Ashley's "Come Into Love" as its 2005 Song of the Year.

"I started making the switch from the corporate world to the artistic world," he said. "There have been a lot of trials and tribulations; it's been a real awakening for me. I mean, you know how many performers would love to be where I am at right now? I'm just amazed when I think about it."

With a good portion of the learning curve behind him, Ashley is looking ahead to playing music in 2006. He is assembling a band, plans to tour Japan and Australia in February, then return to the States for an East Coast swing in March, then return home to play up and down the West Coast.

He also opens for the Gin Blossoms at the Vault 350 in Long Beach on Dec. 29 and will perform at the venerable L.A. hotspot Roxy Theatre on Jan. 5.

Ashley also plans to record three new songs in January and is scheduled to be part of - North County Times By: RICK BELL - December 2005

Encintas resident and singer-songwriter Ashley (one name like Cher) has become the first nominee for 2005 in a songwriting competition sponsored by VH1’s Save the Music Foundation. He won the January round with the song “Come Into Love” from his debut album Twelve Days In January. Ashley had to overdraft his bank account to raise funds to enter the contest, forsaking food for music. Wise choice, oh emaciated one. - CityBeat March16th 2005 issueRead the notable mention in San Diego City Beat

“This guy is on his way to the top,” beamed Backstage owner Ian Copeland after watching a five-song acoustic set by South African-born singer/songwriter Ashley at the Beverly Hills cafe bar last Tuesday night. Ashley's unforgettable voice and hook-laden songs were the stars of this scaled-down performance that had the entire club asking, ‘Who is that guy?'

Well, let me give you a little background: After leaving South Africa for Toronto, Canada, with his mother at the age of 11, Ashley didn't even pick up a guitar until the age of 19. “A friend of mine and I were sitting around one night, and I just picked up the guitar and learned a few chords--it was instantaneous. It was like something happened inside me as soon as I picked up that guitar,” says Ashley, who put himself through school playing his self-penned songs in the subways of Toronto before moving above ground to become a popular fixture of the city's music scene. A few years later, Ashley relocated to sunny San Diego where he was embraced by a new wave of local fans, appearing in local clubs and on local television and radio stations. Now, after performing his first two L.A. shows virtually back-to-back, Ashley is poised to build a new audience for his alternative pop/rock repertoire among L.A. music fans.

After finishing his intimate acoustic set at Backstage on Tuesday, Ashley's band mates—Amber Bailey (backing vocals), Josh Petland (Bass), Alex P. (Drums)—joined him onstage for a plugged-in performance that had club goers dancing between the tables in the club's cozy loft. On Thursday night, it was off to the Roxy Theater, where Ashley and his entourage, with the addition of guitarist Darian Cowgill, hit the stage again, opening with the high-energy “Come Into Love” and continuing with a 30-minute set that ran the gamut from the rousing “Jump Over the Moon” to the melancholy and moving ballad, “State of Mind” before ending with the crowd pleasing and ultra-catchy “L.A.” With a sound that combines the energy and playfulness of artists like Jason Mraz and the Barenaked Ladies with the emotional vulnerability of contemporaries like Matchbox 20 and Maroon 5, Ashley's heartfelt lyrics, beautiful melodies and passionate vocals are sure to attract plenty of new fans even in the hard rock Mecca of Hollywood. You can learn more about Ashley and sample music from his debut CD, “Twelve Days in January” at - All Access Magazine - by Inga Hansen