When did you begin writing music?
I began writing music my freshman year in high school. My
first few songs were pretty terrible, but I feel I started to improve on my
songwriting abilities as I wrote more and more.
Was there a songwriter or performer you looked up to growing
up? Who and Why?
Colbie Caillat was always a huge influence of mine. She's
very quiet, peaceful, and pure sounding. I always looked up to the fact that
she had the ability to not just sing great songs, but she poured her heart out
to any song she performed, despite if she wrote it or not.
Do you remember first song writing and/or performing in front of a crowd?
Most artists start out in a group. If so we're you in one?
My freshman year I actually started out in a pop-punk cover
band. The first song we ever played live was 1985 by Bowling for Soup. Six
months later, I played my first solo show as the opening act for Olivia Henken
in Louisville, KY and my first song I played was an acoustic, stripped down
ballad that I created of 1985 by Bowling for Soup.
When did you begin to take your talents seriously and pursue
your goals and dreams as a music artist?
Again, I'll go back to Freshman year. Before that, my
musical outlets consisted of school choirs and karaoke bars. (The ones that
allowed all ages in). Although my band did not work out, I knew from the few
shows I did with them, that performing was something I really enjoyed, and I
would figure out a way to continue it. Now I couldn't imagine doing anything with
my life that isn’t music related.
What's your lowest and highest moment thus far as an artist?
My lowest moment as an artist was the time period of when I
was getting started. Leaving a band to become a solo artist, a lot of people in
my area told me I would never be able to be successful without a band behind
me, because there’s not a platform in Louisville for solo artists. My highest
moment, has been these past few weeks, and then these next few weeks to come. I
attended the National Country Music Awards as a guest, I’ll play CMA Fest in
June and of course, having my song be nominated for Song of the Year at the
IndieVilleTV Awards is without a doubt my highest moment to this day.
How does it feel to be nominated for Indieville TV song of
the year?
The only word I could think to even slightly describe the
feeling is: speechless. “I Miss” was written my sophomore year of high school,
that was two years ago, and it was written about my first “real boyfriend”
breaking up with me. I thought the song was just going to be a way for me to
cope with the breakup and get over him, I never imagined it’d land a nomination
for Song of the Year. It absolutely blows my mind every day that I think about it.
Are you working on any new music? We can we expect an exclusive
release from you?
There is TONS of new music in the works. As far as recording
and putting together another EP, or even a full length CD, I’ve tried to wait
until I graduate high school to release another since so much travel and time
goes into the release itself. However, I graduate in June, so I have full
intentions to start recording a new CD in the Summer of 2015. As for a release
date though, I won’t have a better idea of when that will be until I get into
the studio.
Outside of music, what other avenues do you wanna explore?
I’m very into the business side of music, so I’m looking
forward to continuing my education in college as a major in Music Business and
also studying Entertainment Law. I would also like to explore radio
broadcasting and maybe even intern with a radio station one day.
Where do you see your music 3-5 years from now?
In 3-5 years I hope to have more than just the CD I’ll be
working on this summer out, so that’s a start. I also see myself being able to
successfully support myself by not just the music business jobs I could acquire
after college, but I’d like to still play shows as well. Ideally, in 3-5 years,
my fan base and music would be large enough that I could tour and support
myself fully from the shows I play, however if that’s not the case, I’d still
enjoy playing weekly shows in different cities.
How can the public find Ashley Ledrick online?
I’m literally everywhere.
AshleyLedrick.com is a start. It has the EP, pictures, and I
try to keep all of the shows updated.
Spotify.com is also another way to stream the EP, or you can
purchase the EP or single tracks on Google Play, Amazon and iTunes.
Or now, we’ve recently set up a PO Box for people that want
to send items to be signed and returned, purchase autographed EP/Pictures, or
just want to communicate and keep in contact via letters, instead of social
media. The address is:
Ashley Ledrick Fan Club
P.O. Box 1920
New Albany, IN 47151-1920
Any last words or shout outs?
I would like to include a huge shout out to everybody that
has bought an EP, bought tickets for a show, visited one of my sites, took the
time out of their day to send me a message, or letter, or tweet to tell me
about their day, or talk to me about how my music helped them. Also, a huge
shout out to everybody that voted to nominate me for Song of the Year, and also
to everybody that voted for me in this category. My final shout out, is to my
dad. Being the father of a teenage daughter is probably hard enough, but being
the manager of a teenage performer on top of that I’m sure has not been easy at
times, and he’s always gone above and beyond to help support me and my career
in any way that I needed. My music wouldn’t go far without the fans, but my
music wouldn’t even be possible without the help from my dadanager. (Get it?
Dad + Manager. Haha)
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