JANUARY 20, 2010 | TIME FOR SOME NYC

First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone in Tampa who came out to Skipper's last weekend. It was a rainy night in Tampa Bay, but we still had a whole lot of fun. Thank you for being there!

Now to my friends in NYC... I cannot wait to be back in my favorite city in the world to share songs and stories from Rwanda and the new EP "The World Should See Her Face" (and some tunes from "Songs About Falling" too). The Living Room is my favorite venue. I can't wait to see you all there on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 9PM! The more the merrier, so bring friends! See you soon, NYC.

JANUARY 11, 2010 | ON THE RADIO

On Monday night, January 11, 2010, I had the chance to sing a few songs on Tampa's WMNF 88.5FM. It was a whole lot of fun. I got to talk about Rwanda (a subject I've yet to run out of things to say about) and even Dolly Parton (my first idol), plus I performed "Those Hills" and "It's Not Love" live in the studio. The show was hosted by a super nice guy named Flee. He's on-air at WMNF every Monday starting at 4PM, so check him out. Of course the main purpose for my visit to the station was to promote Saturday's show at Skipper's Smokehouse. I hope to see all my Tampa family and friends there at 8PM, January 16, 2010!

JANUARY 6, 2010 | NEW YEAR, NEW ALBUM, NEW SITE

2010 is here! I can't believe it. For me, this year is going to be all about sharing the music made in 2009 (it was a great year for music-making). That starts with "The World Should See Her Face", the 8-song EP recorded during my five months in Rwanda. Watch the video below for a preview of the new songs and a glimpse of life in the Land of a Thousand Hills, then buy your copy right here via PayPal. And check out the upcoming shows, the new EP and "Songs About Falling" will be heard on the radio and stage in Tampa in January and then at the Living Room in NYC in February. 2010 is looking pretty incredible already.



JULY 5TH, 2009 | GREETINGS FROM RWANDA
Hello all!

I am in Rwanda until the end of the year. I cannot wait to return with stories and songs to share. Until then, keep up with me on Twitter and my Rwanda Blog. See you in December!

Urukundo (Love),
Ashley

A NIGHT OF MUSIC FOR RWANDA
New Yorkers, please join me and my amazingly talented friends Monday, June 29th, for a night of music for Rwanda. It's sure to be a night to remember with so many incredible performances! Suggested donation of $10 (with more chances to give throughout the night). All money will benefit making music with the young people of Rwanda. Read more about my six months in Africa here. Click here for more event details.

SAVE THE DATE :: Songs About Falling CD Release Party
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
NEW ALBUM + Food, Drinks, Live Music & Dancing...
Doors Open at 7:30 PM
219 Sullivan Street, NYC

Come celebrate the release of Songs About Falling! It's going to be an amazing night sponsored by City Grace in the Children's Aid Society Auditorium.


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Friday, September 12, 2008 :: In the Studio, New Album Soon!!
Yesterday was the first day of actual recording. I'm recording six songs in Brooklyn with Mike Beck of Secret Society Music. So far it's been a lot of fun, and I am so excited about getting these songs recorded...finally!

Here's a peek in the studio...

Thursday, August 14, 2008 :: Meeting Martin & Uwamubona
This is a video I put together about my trip to Rwanda back in February. It's all a part of a campaign to get more children sponsored in the same villages where my sponsored child are. UPDATE: Please visit this website for more information or to begin sponsoring a child.



Wednesday, May 14, 2008 :: New Kids on the Block
So for anyone who isn't signed up on the NKOTB.com email list (or didn't found out some less embarrassing way), New Kids on the Block are back in action. They're new single "Summertime" was just released this week, and I could not be happier.

You see, I tried to play it cool when I first heard about the New Kids reunion. I tried to act like it wouldn't effect me -- I'm too old for New Kids now, right? Apparently not. As soon as I saw the new photos for their upcoming album, it was like I was 10 all over again...

This photo was taken right before I saw New Kids on the Block in concert -- or what my dad always referred to as the night he lost his hearing. Literally. He swore that he never heard the same after a night of tween-age girls squealing for an hour or two. It was a sacrifice I always got the feeling he was happy to have made.

Enduring hearing loss wasn't the only thing my dad did for me that night... Our seats were way in the back -- I could barely see. I remember begging him to ask the people sitting beside us to borrow their binoculars. Instead, being the wise and resourceful man that my dad always was, he surveyed the arena for a better spot. We ended up sneaking into one of the side sections where we were right over the stage. He found us the best seats in the house.

It's because of memories like this one -- or like my New Kids birthday party complete with NKOTB wrapping paper on my gifts or a countless number of slumber parties in my New Kids sleeping bag -- that I'm finding myself listening to their new single on repeat. And while their music may not have been a model for my own, it's still music that has inspired me.

There's something powerful about music that way. How it can transport us like a time machine to our childhood. At least that's what this whole New Kids on the Block reunion has been doing for me the past couple of days. And be warned, I still have the shirt I'm wearing in the photo. Don't think for second I wouldn't put that bad boy on again...

Sunday, March 16, 2008 :: I Left My Heart in Rwanda
It’s been two weeks now since I returned from Rwanda. I figure it’s about time for a blog...

I knew before this trip even began that it would change my life, but I could not have planned for how this place and these people would steal my heart. In a country mainly associated in our world by genocide and AIDS, I witnessed so much love, so much hope and so much beauty. I was literally swept off my feet.

Love in Rwanda is overflowing. They are affectionate people. On our first full day in Nyamegabe, the village where we worked on a house and where my sponsored kids live, we visited a woman whose house was built last year by some of the members of our team. She wasn’t home when we got there but arrived shortly after. This was my first time to Rwanda. I had never met this woman before. But when she arrived at her home and recognized the people I was with as the people who put a roof over her head, she hugged me as if we were reunited family. It was amazing. Literally this woman hugged me for a solid minute (try hugging someone you’ve only just met that long...it’s a long time) speaking words I couldn’t translate but understood completely.

Another incredible moment was at a hospital we visited. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past five years in hospitals. And even though I was in Africa, I certainly had an idea in my mind of what we would see when we got to the one there in Butare. Much of what we saw was exactly how I’d pictured, men and women with AIDS, children needing nutrition, but what I wasn’t expecting to see were the newborn babies. There in the maternity ward, wrapped in the most beautiful African fabrics, were these tiny little lives only hours old. One family passed their little one around so that I could take each of their photos with the newborn. There was so much hope in that room, in those new lives. This is the image in my mind now when I think about the future of this country.

The beauty of Rwanda was the thing that struck me the most but was also the most frustrating because it could not be fullycaptured on film. I’d stick my head out of the window of the car to take a photo of these breathtaking landscapes (each one in steep competition with the last to be named the most beautiful), but when I’d go back and look at them it just wasn’t the same. There was a depth that just could not be captured. But when I went back and looked at every picture of every child that I met along the way I realized that the beauty I was trying to capture in those hills was right there in those big brown eyes, in the smiles, in the laughter. And those pictures are the ones I still can’t get enough of now two weeks later.

This is Erica. I met her in an orphanage in Kigali. We bonded over a harmonica. We shouted, "Tugende" ("Let’s Go") together as I ran her around in circles. I would have carried her home that day if I could have. Her face is a constant in mind now, it’s even the wallpaper on my phone. Not because I could ever forget it, but because her face takes me immediately to those hills where I fell in love filled with such hope surrounded by so much beauty.

There are so many more stories to share from this experience. I’m sure I’ll be telling them for years to come. And there have already been two new songs written that were inspired by my time there in Rwanda, one about falling in love with this place and these people and the other about the love and hope that exists in a place so many only associate with the genocide. I hope to have recordings of these new songs soon because the story of Rwanda is one I cannot wait to share.

I want to say thank you to everyone who made this trip possible for me. Many family members and friends made donations on my behalf for travel expenses and to go toward the building costs of two homes. And many of you in New York came out to Harmony & Love, A Benefit Concert for Rwanda, to raise money for other expenses including two guitars that were donated to a vocational school for street kids. Check out the photos here on MySpace and on Flickr.

One thing I know for sure, I’ll be back in Rwanda someday. So more to come...