UPCOMING SHOWS
The Ashely Martin Band
March 25 - Caddy’s Tap House in Beavercreek
April 8 - Dark Horse Tavern in Miamisburg
April 17 - Wings Sports Bar and Grille in Vandalia
To view all show dates, visit http://www.ashleymartinmusic.com/.
Miami Valley native Ashley Martin specializes in a unique genre she describes as alternative country rock.
The 27-year-old singer, who grew up in Englewood, has been performing for seven years. She lives in Springboro when she’s in Ohio and Nashville as well over the course of the year. She said she was born into a music-oriented lifestyle, making her solo debut in her family’s choir at age 6 and performing in retirement homes at 12.
“With my family always singing and playing in the church, that’s what I was expected to do,” said Martin, who graduated from Northwestern High School in Springfield in 2005. “I was born expected to sing, so I didn’t really know anything else or do anything else.”
Along with the Ashley Martin Band, she performed 189 shows in 2014. Martin and the band play a wide variety of venues, and the type of crowd plays an important role in how the show will be run.
“When it’s a big group of people, and they want to dance and have a party, that’s different than a venue that came to listen,” she said. “When they come to listen, that’s when I like to play the original music and not do the cover songs we always want to dance to.”
With the high quantity of shows on the band’s schedule, traveling has plenty of obstacles.
“We sleep in the van and drive a lot,” Martin said. “You have to have the most laid back personality to deal with flat tires, busted starters and bad drivers. It’s dangerous how much we are on the road.”
A large portion of Martin’s shows are held at various locations throughout the Miami Valley.
“Whenever we come back to our hometown and we get a huge turnout, we realize that what we are doing is working. We have a great family of fans, as we call them,” Martin said.
This year, however, Martin plans on performing in a smaller quantity of shows because she has a different stage in mind.
“I’m trying to do more business meetings with record companies and labels to pitch to them what we are doing and what we’ve done to see if there is any interest,” she said.
Keeping her vocals in good shape is very important for her music, according to Martin.
“You should practice every day. Warming up is very important for your tone and to prevent nodules on your vocal cords,” she said.
According to bass player Brian Hurst, being one of the instrumentalists has its own set of challenges.
“I would say the challenging part is trying to figure out what to play and when to play it. You want to play the right thing for the right type of song. Just like any other instrument, there are a lot of different variations,” said Hurst. “It’s about the feel of the song. If you want to play a ballad, usually there’s a different feel versus a rock song,”
Martin does all of her recording in Nashville and has already released two albums, “Put On A Show” and “Torn.” Both albums are currently available through iTunes. A new single will be released on the first of each upcoming month until December, when the third full album will be released.
Martin explained that putting together an album takes a seemingly never-ending series of steps, including songwriting, doing a master recording, and designing the album cover.
“It’s very hard,” she said. “With my first one I didn’t even know if there was light at the end of the tunnel. I thought when I get this thing in my hands I am going to be so happy.”
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