Sam Ashworth

On the bright, engaging "Gonna Get It Wrong Before I Get It Right," Ashworth conjures 12 warm, appropriately summery songs, hitting his stride on "Children Leap," a lovely mid-tempo track featuring Mead's welcome backing vocals. Rarely exceptional but unerringly appealing, "Get It Right" does just that, cementing Ashworth's position as a charming pop craftsman with a bright future. --Stephen Thompson - Paste Magazine (September 2005)

What's an Ash worth? A million bucks if your Ash can write songs like these! - Roctober 41 4.00

Astronaut Pushers frontman Sam Ashworth exposes his true self on this debut solo record. The album's first single, "Look Back"--decorated with acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel and trademark floating bass lines from Matt Slocum--- is perhaps the most upbeat track on the record and uncovers Ashworth's fondness for Elvis Costello. The rest of the album cannot claim the energy of "Look Back" but can boast plenty of songs with memorable hooks, particularly the choruses of "Children Leap" and "World on Fire." Ashworth may not get every song right on this debut, but he doesn't get an wrong either. --Evan James - American Songwriter (November/December 2005)

Nashville songwriter/artist/producer Sam Ashworth has gone through myriad artistic incarnation in his relatively short musical career. When Sam was only 16, Sixpence None the Richer covered one of his songs, "I Won't Stay Long," on their platinum-selling 1998 self-titled album-- the same one that included mega-hit "Kiss Me."

The only constant throughout all Sam's various permutations has been his unmistakable voice-- a breathy, expressive instrument he uses with equal amounts of command and restraint. On "Gonna Get It Wrong..." that voice once again is the centerpiece, recalling at times both Paul McCartney and fellow Nash-pop guru David Mead (who make an appearance on the song Children Leap).

This measured and moving album has the feel of a slightly less schizophrenic Harry Nilsson or a more straightforward version of New Zealand pop savant Neil Finn. And it's the adventurous Finn we'd love to see Sam emulate on future releases. We're all for resurrecting the lost art of songwriter pop, but eventually we'd like to see Sam split the difference between his love for traditional craftsman ship and the textural studio experimentation he has exhibited in the past. --Jason Wilkins - All The Rage (09/01/2005)