Singing Her Way to The Bigs
Union Leader, The/New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH)
New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH)
May 31, 2009
MANCHESTER
The last time Ashley Alexander sang at the athletic complex off South Commercial Street, the place was called Singer Family Park, and soccer was the game of choice.
She returned there last Wednesday to what is now known as Merchantsauto.com Stadium, the minor league baseball park that is home to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Fisher Cats play at a level viewed as a launching pad for future big league stars. Ashley is hoping that also holds true for aspiring singers.
The Manchester native showed up to lead the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and to sign copies of her recently released CD, "Heaven on Earth." It was one of a handful of stops during her brief visit home from Los Angeles.
She appeared on the Fox 25 morning show Thursday and was the opening act for country singer Chuck Wicks the following night at the Colonial Theatre in Keene. You can call her return to New England part homecoming, part business trip. It's what you do when you're trying to make it in show business.
The pride of Central High, who first made her name singing with her sister, Ashra, as the pop duo Fantasy, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall, released the country-tinged CD she recorded in Nashville in December and took off in February to L.A., where she fell in love with the music scene after doing an internship for a record company.
"I love Nashville, but this is something I wanted to explore," Ashley said.
She just turned 23 this month and is steadily building a career as a singer. Her video for the title track on "Heaven on Earth" played on the big screen in center field as folks waited for the start of Wednesday's game between the Fisher Cats and the Portland Sea Dogs.
She's refining her sound to incorporate a bluesier feel, getting her inspiration from people such as Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer.
"It's about finding your own niche," Ashley said. "I definitely plan to stick with the country and mix it (with blues)."
She's putting together a band out in Los Angeles, and is using her business training from Berklee to organize a series of small shows that will feature a handful of other young artists. In the meantime, like every aspiring actor/singer/model trying to make it, she works a day job as a receptionist at a spa. You don't get to be a star overnight.
"I try not to set any timetable for myself," she said. "Everything is slowly, but surely."
Ashley is heeding the advice her father gave her when she was young: Look at where you are now and compare it to where you were a year ago. A year ago, Ashley Alexander was a college student with no record and she wasn't opening for national recording artists like Wicks.
The folks at the spa are excited that Ashley was opening for Wicks, who gained a new audience with his appearance on this year's season of "Dancing with the Stars." She was excited, too, but for different reasons.
Her half-hour acoustic set was another chance to get seen, to continue to build a fan base and, above all, to perform on stage.
"My main goal, really, is to perform," Ashley said. "I want to tour and perform much more."
When she does reach her goals, Ashley might not remember her appearance at a minor league ballpark in Manchester as her big break, but we'll be able to add her name to the list of future stars who played there.
She might not be able to hit the curveball, but then, the Fisher Cats probably can't sing like she can, either.
.
E-Mail staff writer Jim Fennell at jfennell@unionleader.com.
Copyright, 2009, Union Leader Corp.
Record Number: mandc5-5pg4r8w0jf61jwd27bti
Union Leader, The/New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH)
New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH)
May 31, 2009
MANCHESTER
The last time Ashley Alexander sang at the athletic complex off South Commercial Street, the place was called Singer Family Park, and soccer was the game of choice.
She returned there last Wednesday to what is now known as Merchantsauto.com Stadium, the minor league baseball park that is home to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Fisher Cats play at a level viewed as a launching pad for future big league stars. Ashley is hoping that also holds true for aspiring singers.
The Manchester native showed up to lead the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and to sign copies of her recently released CD, "Heaven on Earth." It was one of a handful of stops during her brief visit home from Los Angeles.
She appeared on the Fox 25 morning show Thursday and was the opening act for country singer Chuck Wicks the following night at the Colonial Theatre in Keene. You can call her return to New England part homecoming, part business trip. It's what you do when you're trying to make it in show business.
The pride of Central High, who first made her name singing with her sister, Ashra, as the pop duo Fantasy, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall, released the country-tinged CD she recorded in Nashville in December and took off in February to L.A., where she fell in love with the music scene after doing an internship for a record company.
"I love Nashville, but this is something I wanted to explore," Ashley said.
She just turned 23 this month and is steadily building a career as a singer. Her video for the title track on "Heaven on Earth" played on the big screen in center field as folks waited for the start of Wednesday's game between the Fisher Cats and the Portland Sea Dogs.
She's refining her sound to incorporate a bluesier feel, getting her inspiration from people such as Susan Tedeschi, Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer.
"It's about finding your own niche," Ashley said. "I definitely plan to stick with the country and mix it (with blues)."
She's putting together a band out in Los Angeles, and is using her business training from Berklee to organize a series of small shows that will feature a handful of other young artists. In the meantime, like every aspiring actor/singer/model trying to make it, she works a day job as a receptionist at a spa. You don't get to be a star overnight.
"I try not to set any timetable for myself," she said. "Everything is slowly, but surely."
Ashley is heeding the advice her father gave her when she was young: Look at where you are now and compare it to where you were a year ago. A year ago, Ashley Alexander was a college student with no record and she wasn't opening for national recording artists like Wicks.
The folks at the spa are excited that Ashley was opening for Wicks, who gained a new audience with his appearance on this year's season of "Dancing with the Stars." She was excited, too, but for different reasons.
Her half-hour acoustic set was another chance to get seen, to continue to build a fan base and, above all, to perform on stage.
"My main goal, really, is to perform," Ashley said. "I want to tour and perform much more."
When she does reach her goals, Ashley might not remember her appearance at a minor league ballpark in Manchester as her big break, but we'll be able to add her name to the list of future stars who played there.
She might not be able to hit the curveball, but then, the Fisher Cats probably can't sing like she can, either.
.
E-Mail staff writer Jim Fennell at jfennell@unionleader.com.
Copyright, 2009, Union Leader Corp.
Record Number: mandc5-5pg4r8w0jf61jwd27bti