A Solo Sport

​Sometimes I love being able to accompany myself. Other times I wonder if it holds me back.

When I get booked for jazz gigs, it is MOSTLY as a solo artist. Why?

Because when I play solo, I can squeeze into almost any tiny space--the corner of a restaurant, a downtown sidewalk, into another band as a vocalist, etc.

I can fit more budgets.

And I only have 1 schedule to check! Just kidding, I actually have about 4 schedules to check because there's also Ethan's busy toddler schedule (summer swim lessons!!!), my husband's schedule, and the schedule of whoever will need to watch the babe if he can't).

As a solo artist, it is definitely convenient to have only 1 main creative opinion to appease and 1 set list to pull from.

That can make things easy in many ways.

On the flip side, I often find it more musically stimulating to play with another artist (or several) who can do things that I can't; who knows new songs it might be cool to try; who can add in their own sonic ideas to the mix and fill out the space in a different way.

Playing with others makes me listen more and creates a musical conversation that I don't always know the end to.

I love the excitement of wondering where a song will end up and following its lead :)

​That's why I love taking requests from the public when I do play by myself.

It's also why I enjoy playing for fun with community groups like St. Alban's Ukulele Orchestra.

1970s music isn't my forté, so until we started rehearsing, I had never heard about 65% of the music we did for our spring ukulele concert this month. But I can say that it all turned out pretty "groovy," and the audience LOVED IT, too.

Here's to many more musical adventures (solo and group-sized) to come!

With gratitude,

Ashley

St. Alban's Ukulele Orchestra - "Music of the '70's" Spring Concert - May 2026