Rivers & Rhodes

I am thankful to have been given the gift of song. My name is Ashley Mitchell and I am a singer/songwriter from Goldsboro, Maryland.  For my co-writer, Donny Marvel and I, having grown up in a small town, we fully appreciate the expression, “follow your dreams.”  

I began singing when I was three years old. My mother says, all I ever did was sing from the moment I could speak; funny how that has been consistent throughout my entire life. However, it wasn’t until high school that I truly began to study my talent. After performing in my ninth grade chorus class, my teacher, Doc Thompson, who had taken an interest in my singing, placed me in an advanced music theory course. It was there I was introduced to others who loved and appreciated music as strongly as I. This class inspired us to create a band called Doc’s Concoction, in honor of the teacher who brought us together. The group consisted of several talented musicians. After our graduation in 2006, we all decided to go our separate ways to pursue our career goals. For Drummer Donny Marvel and I, music was our goal. 

In 2009, Donny Marvel and I produced an original album, Ashley Mitchell, “Time to Shine.” Throughout this time Donny and I were both attending college and working towards pursuing music full time. I attended Washington College, in Chestertown, Maryland. I studied classical vocal training until I was allowed to express my creativity. I then began to study Pop and Jazz vocal methods. From 2010 through 2011 I was awarded the WC Friends of the Arts Scholarship. I was also awarded the 2011 Music Awarded for the graduating class of 2011. I graduated from Washington College in May of 2011 with a Bachelors of the Arts.

Donny Marvel attended The Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts (S.I.R.A.) where he graduated at the head of his class. S.I.R.A. changed his life! It helped him gain the tools to enter into the sound engineering field. Now possessing the knowledge of sound and recording, he decided to advance his instrumental knowledge. Along with playing drums, he taught himself the fundamentals of guitar and bass, but for some reason playing guitar seemed to fit so much better than any other instrument he had ever played. Donny and I, still working together, decided to form a cover band. “The Ashley Mitchell Band,” founded in 2012.   This project had been our primary focus for a longtime. However, our hearts belong to the songs that we write, and we are thankful to have each other to share that passion and common goal.

“River & Rhodes” was created in the summer of 2015. We are so proud to announce that we recently celebrated the release of our self titled album, and are actively seeking new and rewarding opportunities.  This album is by far our greatest accomplishment yet.  Having worked so hard for years performing cover music and trying our best to sound like the radio, we have finally embraced our own voice and sound and produced our own album.  We are so excited for the future, and hope anyone who listens to this album will join us on our journey.

“We are the Music Makers, and We are the Dreamers of Dreams.” -Willy Wonka