Bands & Performers

Nate Ashley

Raised on a windswept island—you can hear it in his voice. Nate sings songs that last a lifetime. They mean more and more, so much so that you welcome the way he hooks you.
www.lefthandedlabel.com

“There’s absolutely no good reason for the fact that you’ve probably never heard of Nate Ashley, because his acoustic-based folk-pop rivals the work of people like Elliott Smith, Bill Callahan of Smog, and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse in sonic complexity and lyrical potency. That’s not to suggest that Ashley sounds like any member of that group, though he does share a certain ethereal quality derived from a breathy delivery and sleepy compositions. And like those people, Ashley writes songs that are consistently inward looking and deeply personal.

“Musically, Ashley covers a lot of ground, connecting himself with the folk-rock tradition through myriad acoustic guitar textures and organ lines, while also giving his compositions a contemporary—and unconventional - flavor through his use of drum machines, sequencers, and everyday found sounds like sirens, birdsong, and telephones. Sometimes the instrumentation of an Ashley piece seems like a bit of a stretch, but his talent as an arranger makes each song work, and to his credit, he never overindulges in odd sonic juxtapositions, keeping the music subtle and restrained. That’s perfectly in keeping with his albums’ lyrical themes, which deal in offbeat ways with loneliness, estrangement, and identity.” Epitonic