Ashleigh Marie

My name is Ashleigh and I am 14 years old. I am a native of Huntsville, Alabama. I started playing guitar in March of 2004 when I was 8 years old. I have always loved music singing to songs on the radio and singing with the karaoke machine at family functions and at home. I wanted a guitar for Christmas and my parents purchased my first guitar and it started the long journey. I practice an hour or more a day and I have a lot of determination to be the best that I can be. Playing guitar has given me the opportunity to do many things in the last 6 years with my music and it has opened many doors for me.

I studied guitar and Music Theory for 5 years with my guitar teacher Mike McAlister of Harvest, Alabama. He is an accomplished musician focusing on Christian music. He has written many original songs and has several Albums. He teaches at his home, Studio 144, and at Railroad Bazaar in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike is an member of Harmony Baptist Church and also supports the band there as well.

I have also studied with my voice coach Melissa Ellen of Nashville, Tennessee an accomplished songwriter and a vocal teacher at The Nashville School of Music. She has coached and worked with several teens from American Idol finalists to other aspiring artists. I have studied with her for over a year.

I also attend voice lessons with an accomplished voice teacher, Gene Hammonds, that has been in several Broadway shows and has taught several great movie stars, one of which was Lucas Black. I have been studying with her for the past year as well.

I have been able to sing on stage with some of the greatest songwriters of all time. Jim Parker, Jim McBride, Jill Colucci, Lenny LeBlanc to name a few. I have played on stage with them and was also given the opportunity to sing at the Songwriter's Showcase at the VBC Playhouse, a song that Mr. Jim Parker Co-wrote with the Great John Anderson "Chicken Truck" that was No. 8 in the nation on the Billboard country charts and is currently on John Anderson’s 1st Greatest Hits album. It received the 1981 BMI SONGWRITER’S AWARD. Jim Parker has also been helping me in songwriting and will be writing some originals. I have written several songs on my own but with Jim's help will to learn more about what makes a song great and how to write a song that makes it to the top of the billboard charts.

During the last 5 years I have played at several Christian Youth Rallies, I have placed in several competitions, have been asked to appear in many special events and have become a member of the Huntsville Traditional Music Association (HTMA). I have appeared in several Kidz for Kidz events, been on television spotlight shows and have played many of my own gigs private and public. I am a preferred street performer at Bridgestreet Town Centre.I have truly been blessed and I look forward to what lies ahead of me in the years ahead.