Ashley Wheeler

Born and raised just outside of Altus, Oklahoma, Ashley Nicole Wheeler began performing at age seven. Now a veteran performer at the age of sixteen, Ashley has developed a captivating stage presence, endearing audiences with her performing style as well as her music. Singing country, gospel and pop, Ashley combines talent, charisma and a love of music with a youthful enthusiasm for a unique musical experience that transcends boundaries of age or music preference and has audiences coming back for more.

Ashley has opened for or performed with the Sidekicks, The Texans, and Carl Acuff, Jr., along with several Branson groups such as The Plummer Family, Mike McAdoo (Branson's Instrumentalist of the Year), and Dean Church in his music variety show. She also appeared frequently in the "Mystical Magic of the Endangered" show, which raised money for endangered animals. Ashley has also performed at the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo in Amarillo, Texas, entertaining on the small stage and the Main Stage, as well as at the annual Lincoln County Cowboy Symposium in Ruidosa, New Mexico with Wendell Sollis and the Sidekicks for the two years. She has also performed in several cities with her own band of young musicians, Ashley Nicole and “The Livewirz”.

Winning is nothing new for Ashley. In the spring of 2006 she won the KKNG local contest for the Colgate Country Showdown for Oklahoma. Out of a field of over 300 entrants who sent in CDs, Ashley was one of the twelve chosen to compete on June 2 at Remington Park Racetrack in Oklahoma City. The youngest of the twelve, she was chosen as one of the five finalists for her rendition of "Cowboy Sweetheart". After the five finalists performed that evening during the races, Ashley was chosen by the judges as the overall winner for her performance of "The Auctioneer". At the state level competition she placed 3rd out of a field of ten, which included solo acts and groups. And at the 2006 Honeyfest Idol competition, held in Burleson, Texas, Ashley won 1st and 2nd place in the 13 to 18 age group, out of a field of 34 performances. She also placed second overall, competing against a field of 84 entries of all ages. She was also the 3rd runner up overall in the 2005 Miss Oklahoma National Pre-Teen Achievement Program. Ashley won first place in Talent and Photo Miss, and was the 2005 National Scholarship America finalist, earning a scholarship to the college of her choice upon graduation from high school. As another testament to her talent, Ashley received a scholarship for the last 2 years , donated anonymously, to attend the 4 day Musicians Camp instructed by Tommy Alsup, an original member of the Texas Playboys.

In only nine years Ashley has accumulated an impressive list of awards, beginning with winning gold with honors for country and pop at the American Kids Competition in Branson, Missouri when she was 7. Since then she has won many talent competitions, including the 16 and under talent competition (at the age of 9) at the Oklahoma Opry, where she was also voted one of the top five female vocalists of the year. Ashley received the 2004 Hall of Fame Award and the 2006 Grand Ole Opry Star Award from Treble Maker's Voice and Dance Studio in Wichita Falls, Texas, where she studies under the direction of Danny Parkerson, voice teacher and talent manager. Ashley also won the 2005 KFDX TV-3 Most Talented Kid competition. In March 2007, Ashley competed in the 12th Annual Carnegie Hall Amateur Talent Show. She won 1st place in her division of grades 7-9 and also earned the judges choice as "Best of Show" award out of a field of 37 contestants of all ages from 22 different towns.
Ashley competes in pageants to earn money for her college education. Among other honors, she won the World Youth Federation's 2004 World's Our Little Miss Pageant in Orlando, Florida, where she competed against 33 contestants from all over the world. Ashley was also crowned the 2005 Oklahoma State Cinderella Miss. She was recently crowned the 2009 Miss Southwestern Oklahoma State University Outstanding Teen and will compete this June in the Miss Oklahoma Outstanding Teen Pageant (which is affiliated with the Miss America Scholarship Pageant).

Besides talent competitions and pageants, Ashley is taking clogging and guitar lessons. Ashley is also interested in doing some acting. She is very outgoing and loves to meet new people. She routinely performs at nursing and retirement homes, as well as churches and donates her time to the Salvation Army and Relay for Life Organizations. Now a sophomore at Navajo High School, she was the valedictorian of her freshman graduating class`. Ashley is a member of the National Honor Society, class secretary and a straight A student. She is the sophomore representative to the Student Council and is a starter on the High School softball and basketball teams as well as a member of the high school cheer squad and on the cheer competition team. She