Ask & You Shall Receive8/29/2025 In a celebratory mood today for a few reasons, but one is because it's my birthday! This year has been a feat of physical and emotional endurance for me as I learn to navigate parenthood while continuing my artistic career. Whew! I'll let you know how well I'm balancing that juggling act in 5 years. Haha In the meantime, I have a gift for YOU! Ever since I put together my first "Great American Songbook" Show at the Manship Theatre's Hartley/Vey Studio, people have asked me, "When's the next one????" Well... Mark your calendar for Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, cuz this will be an exciting night: PASSPORT TO PARADISE WITH ASHLEY ORLANDO: A Swinging Sojourn of Jazz, Joy, and Jet-Setting  Fasten your seatbelt and let your imagination take flight!
“Passport to Paradise with Ashley Orlando” will take you on a swinging sojourn of jazz, joy and jet-setting with songs from the 1920s to the present day. Join jazz vocalist and ukulele artist Ashley Orlando and her band as they whisk you from the sun-kissed shores of Hawaii to moonlit nights in Paris; from the vibrant rhythms of Rio to the soulful sounds of New Orleans. Featuring timeless classics like “Come Fly With Me,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (Iz version), “One Note Samba,” and “La Vie en Rose,” this evening blends romance, whimsy, and irresistible grooves with golden age glamour. Come to paradise with these incredible musicians: Ashley Orlando (vocals/ukulele), Raudol Palacios (cello), Connor Underwood (piano), Dave Hinson (bass) and John Jones (drums)!
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Big Show Announcements!8/14/2025  School is starting back up here in Louisiana, and my fall performance schedule is shaping up to be quite eventful. Come join in the fun!
In the meantime, here's to tackling today's routine tasks and rehearsals with the same infectious curiosity and enthusiasm as my 1-year-old, Ethan. He can't walk unassisted yet, but a couple weeks ago, he accidentally turned an empty Kirkland diaper box (sitting all alone by the backdoor just waiting to be recycled) into his own personal push-walker. This unexpectedly unleashed FREEDOM to explore most of the house on his own, which he now delights in doing all day long. He even prefers this cardboard box to the ACTUAL push-walker we bought him. haha. Gotta love toddler ingenuity :) With gratitude, Ashley A Dash of Courage8/8/2025 Two-ish years ago, I bought a beautiful red tulle dress for a "big gig" (as a soloist with the symphony)! The dress was a tad too large in places, but it was also unlike anything I had ever worn before and made me feel bolder just looking at myself in the dressing room mirror. "Woah!" I remember thinking when I first tried it on. "Maybe it can be easily altered." I felt enchanted enough by the uniqueness of the dress to at least take a chance and paid $40 to bring it home. In the days that followed, my mom and I tried to "fix" the dress with our minimal sewing skills, but it wasn't working out quite like I hoped. In that state, I did not feel comfortable wearing the dress to sing in front of a symphony and 1,800 spectators. Disheartened, I hung the dress up in my closet, and there it stayed...HAUNTING ME. Until last Saturday night. Two+ years later... When I could finally zip up the dress again (FUN SIDENOTE: I learned a couple days before that aforementioned symphony concert that I was pregnant with my son, so technically, it was his "onstage debut" :P). And I dared to TRY AGAIN. This time I was fully committed to the dress and called in the professionals at a bridal shop around the corner from my house. The lovely ladies there didn't know me from Adam, but they immediately took me under their wing like my fairy grandmothers and worked their magic so that that night I could FINALLY (AND COMFORTABLY) muster up my courage to wear "the dress" for a "big gig"--this time with a "big band!" And I'm so glad I did :D As my 1-year-old's books remind me every night before bed: "When things don't work out like you hoped the first time around, don't give up too easily. Trust your gut and try again!" With gratitude, Ashley  AuthorAshley Orlando is a jazz vocalist/ukulele artist and joyologist on a mission to help 1 million women find their voice through music, inspiring stories, and communication skills. Archives
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