About Ashley

New music springing from ancient roots.
—Meredith Vieira speaking of Ashley on her Today Show appearance.

Raised on the plains of Kansas, Ashley Davis is a musician whose songs are as much a product of the natural beauty found in her childhood environment as they are the bluegrass, folk and classic country sounds that surrounded her youth. With a major appearance on the Today Show, a collaboration with Paddy Moloney and a tour with Moya Brennan, this prairie girl has found solid footing within the roots of those before her. Through her many travels and experiences, including an MA from the University of Limerick in Traditional Irish Music, Ashley has grown into a true artist whose influences live in ancient Celtic lore and American folk music.
While her music evokes vivid imagery of the natural world and our ever-shifting place, Davis possesses an otherworldly musical aesthetic, a sense one rooted deeply in the spirits of Celtic myth and folklore. In keeping with these rich traditions, Davis has mastered the art of storytelling. Her live shows are now as well known for their consummate blend of traditional Celtic and original songs and her often hilarious tales of her own travels, observations, encounters and heartbreaks.

…the plain truth is that this music deserves your attention because it's a fiercely original voice that touches your heart without leaving you in fairy dust.
—Irish Voice

Davis started playing her first live performances throughout the Midwest region at the age of fourteen, and at eighteen she began her undergraduate study in Nashville in Irish, British and Latin literary studies encased in music electives. Here that she discovered the rich worlds of Celtic music and culture, and was often featured as a solo performer at many of Nashville's pubs and venues, including the famous songwriter haunt, The Bluebird Café.
At the University of Limerick, where her father was a guest lecturer, Davis was introduced to the Irish World Music Center and earned her Masters degree there under the direction of Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. While at the university, she elected to specialize in DADGAD guitar, and worked with the great John Spillane, with whom she studied, collaborated, and supported on stage.
Upon graduating with an MA in Traditional Irish Singing from the University of Limerick, Davis was chosen to be the soloist for the Las Vegas premier of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, where she spent one year with the show.
Since, Davis' has gained increasingly large and enthusiastic followings in her home bases of New York City and Lawrence, Kansas. She has gained the respect of both groups by playing sold-out shows in prestigious music venues and by garnering the respect of such big music names outside the Celtic world as Grammy-award winning composers Phillip Glass and Osvaldo Gilijov:

Ashley Davis is a young woman with a beautiful voice and as much musicality as anyone could wish for. And on top of that she writes and sings with a confidence way beyond her years. I wish her all the best and I look forward to watching her music and her career develop.
—Philip Glass, Composer

Davis has also written and performed original music for numerous critically acclaimed independent films.
In 2006, Davis journeyed to the Isle of Man, where she was an Artist in Residence (2006), capturing and recording the native Manx language, as well as the melodies and stories of the island. This extremely important endeavor is helping to preserve the vibrant, endangered, yet-resurging culture on the Isle of Man, and has given Davis the opportunity to present lectures on Manx language, music and history at various colleges and universities in the United States.
The appeal of Davis unique sound has quickly spread beyond the realm of lush sonic landscapes. In 2010 she was named one of the top most influential Irish-Americans under the age of 40. Her immense talent as a songwriter has recently inspired a number of other musicians to record her songs, drawn by the authenticity of their diverse origins and the elegance of their lyricism:

"If traditional Irish music in the U.S. is to become anything other than a museum piece, it needs people like Ashley Davis."
—Irish Times

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