NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ RCD Music/ Fontana North) - Sean Ashby is one of North Americas most sought after musicians having been playing and recording with the likes of
Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Conjure 1 and many others. Ashby, a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and engineer will release Brass And Gold on RCD Music/Fontana North on April 29, 2008 with a CD release party at the Bovine on April 24.
Ashby has recorded and toured with some of Canada's most successful musicians. He has been McLachlan's guitarist since1996 and appeared with her on "Just like You (Cats In The Cradle)' for D from Run DMC's solo CD. He has recorded and/or toured with Delerium, Front Line Assembly, Swollen Members, Conjure 1, Lava Hay, Lee Aaron, Sue Medley, Holly McNarland, Mike Trebilcock (of the Killjoys), Todd Fanceys (The new Pornographers) and Wild Strawberries. Ashby recorded a version of the Beatles' 'Blackbird' with McLachlan for the major motion picture 'I Am Sam' starring Sean Penn. It is currently getting heavy rotation on radio stations all over North America.
Brass and Gold is a solo venture, however if you include his last project Jack Tripper, it is actually Ashby's third album. The CD focuses on Ashby's songwriting/singing /guitar/producing and he also mixed one song. Many of the songs are inspired by Ashby's battles with his own dark side and his journey out. "Eyes are Closed" is a more uplifting song that came to him in a beach hut in Costa Rica on a surf trip. 'I am no Jack Johnson, but I have been doing an impression of surfing for about ten years,' says Ashby.
"Dance Upon My Grave" was inspired by a book on Gypsy Singing, 'it talked about being a Gypsy singer and how a singer should be completely drained after one song - wrenching out all their emotion into every line, left voiceless and exhausted at the end of the "telling" of the song,' Ashby explains. 'I was also thinking about a scene in Kill Bill Part 2 where the protagonist is buried alive and trying to escape, the claustrophobia of that idea juxtaposed as an emotional metaphor was the catalyst for this song. That coupled with my own relationship destruction's, inevitably at my own hands. I could go on like this about all the songs, they mean the world to me.'
Ashby was able to recruit an impressive line up of musicians to perform on Brass and Gold including Todd Fancey (the New Pornographers), Ray Garraway (K-OS) and Sean Drabbit (Branford & Wynton Marsalis). Kevin Fox did two wonderful string arrangements. 'Recording the string section was a very emotional experience - so beautiful sounding I had a hard time keeping it together in order to produce/direct the session,' says Ashby.
As a musician Ashby has appeared on the Grammy Awards twice, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno five times, SNL and David Letterman three times along with other major TV shows and four motion pictures. Ashby has received two four times platinum U.S. records and one Diamond record in Canada for his work with McLachlan.
Ashby is hitting the road with Delerium this month and then returning in time for the CD release to start touring Brass and Gold. Check the website for tour updates.
http://www.seanashby.com/
http://www.myspace.com/seanashbymusic
