(August 5, 2016) 27-year-old Dallas-based singer Ashleigh Smith took the jazz community by storm two years ago when she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocals Competition, and now she’s ready to show her stuff to the rest of the world with her Concord Records debut, Sunkissed, coming out on August 26.
The eagerly-awaited disc reveals Smith to be a gifted songwriter too. She co-wrote five of the disc’s 10 compositions. Like the musicians accompanying her, most of Smith’s writing partners – electric bassist Nigel Rivers and guitarist Joel Cross – were fellow classmates of hers from the University of North Texas, where she studied jazz. Indeed, enlisting a cadre of musicians whom she’s already forged a sparkling rapport imbues Sunkissed with a greater sense of warmth and personal conviction.
(August 5, 2016) 27-year-old Dallas-based singer Ashleigh Smith took the jazz community by storm two years ago when she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocals Competition, and now she’s ready to show her stuff to the rest of the world with her Concord Records debut, Sunkissed, coming out on August 26.
The eagerly-awaited disc reveals Smith to be a gifted songwriter too. She co-wrote five of the disc’s 10 compositions. Like the musicians accompanying her, most of Smith’s writing partners – electric bassist Nigel Rivers and guitarist Joel Cross – were fellow classmates of hers from the University of North Texas, where she studied jazz. Indeed, enlisting a cadre of musicians whom she’s already forged a sparkling rapport imbues Sunkissed with a greater sense of warmth and personal conviction.
We’re proud to present the World Premiere of the opening track from Sunkissed, the gorgeous midtempo, “Best Friends.” Ashleigh tells us about the song:“‘Best Friends’ came from a very personal place of experience. I was with someone for over six years and in that time we had pretty much grown up together. Some of our biggest moments in life we had experienced together. And one day I looked up and it seemed we were together just because that's all we knew and out of fear of ‘starting over.’ That song came out of me exploring those feelings.”
Take a listen to “Best Friends” below, and get ready to hear more about Ashleigh Smith!
World Premiere!
Ashleigh Smith – “Best Friends”