Ashley Campbell, daughter of legendary country singer Glen Campbell, is planning to follow in her father’s footsteps as she pursues a solo career in country music. After touring alongside her father, the time has come for the young singer/songwriter to step into her own, recently signing a record deal with Dot Records. Ashley is working on putting an album together and is currently on radio tour to promote her debut single, ‘Remembering.’ New England Country Music was fortunate enough to spend some time talking with Ashley about her single, her famous father, and more.
Campbell’s debut single is an important one and one that’s especially close to Ashley’s heart because it’s a song she wrote for her dad. For those who aren’t familiar with Glen’s story, the Grammy-winning musician was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2011. After going public with the diagnosis, Glen and his family set out on a farewell tour which was chronicled in the documentary, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. The tour included Glen’s children as members of his band, which gave Ashley and her brothers the opportunity to perform on stage with their father night after night. It was while they were on tour that Ashley started to notice a little role-reversal. “I kind of became his anchor on stage. He would just kind of look to me if he wasn’t sure or I would help him out if he needed a little extra push,” she described. “So I kind of was experiencing this swap of relationship where your dad takes care of you and all of a sudden you have to take care of your dad. It’s kind of like the natural cycle of life.” It was this realization that led Ashley to write her debut single. “I wrote ‘Remembering’ kind of to express that. And also now that I’m thinking about it, the song also means to me that when my dad can no longer understand words, he can hopefully still understand music. That’s kind of my way of reaching him,” Ashley said, noting that she’s played the song for her dad.
With the song being so personal to Ashley and her family, one might wonder if it was tough decision to share it with the world. Ashley said, “I think it’s what my dad would have done. He decided to share what he was doing publicly and go on tour so, you know, I just kind of followed his lead.” However, she does admit that sometimes the song can be difficult to perform. “It’s definitely a lot tougher to sing when someone that’s listening starts sniffling or starts to cry and then I look at them. Then I have to kind of look away and think of something else,” she said. But that hasn’t stopped her from performing it on radio tour at stations around the country. The radio tour, she says, has been going considerably well. “This is week five… We’re having a lot of fun! I’ve got my fiddle player and friend out with me,” she said. You can hear the excitement in her voice as she talks about it, making sure to add just one more time that they’ve been having a blast.
The album itself is also coming along well. Ashley has about five songs so far, but she plans on recording more in the near future in hopes that the project will be completed by spring. She’s signed on with Dot Records, a branch of Big Machine, and while there’s always a little give and take, Ashley said that the label has really trusted her to make a lot of her own decisions. “I haven’t had to put up any fights yet!” she laughs. As far as her sound for this album, Campbell confesses that she’s still working on it. “I would describe my sound as having a lot of organic elements because I love bluegrass so much, and Americana,” she says. ”But I also love pop and mainstream country, so it’s going to be kind of a mixture of organic roots meets country-pop.” Ashley’s had a hand in writing all of the songs for the album and draws inspiration from her everyday life experiences. “It can be anything from what’s happening now to what happened to me five, ten years ago. Sometimes you can look back with more insight and write about what happened to you a long time ago,” she explains. But regardless of the specific subject-matter of each song, the album is going to be very personal to her.
It’s probably obvious that Ashley’s dad is one of her musical influences, but when asked who else she would add to that list, the singer had to pause and think about it for a moment. “Everything from like Mozart to Coldplay,” she said, taking another few seconds to think. “Dixie Chicks were a big influence when I was in high school. I had their album, ‘Home,’ and I would listen to it every single day on the way and back home from school.” It was in high school that Ashley learned to play the guitar and she mentioned that ‘Travelin Soldier’ and ‘Long Time Gone’ were among the first songs she learned to play. In case you’re wondering, Ashley and her dad didn’t really play music together until she accompanied him on tour. “I don’t think I was really good enough to play with my dad yet. I was probably too embarrassed,” she confessed.
Having Glen Campbell for a father and having the opportunity to join him on tour, has taught Ashley a lot about the business, but the most important lesson she learned from the experience had more to do with character than music. “I think what I mostly took away was my dad’s honesty on stage. He just always was exactly who he is, said exactly how he was feeling all the time, and he was just very open with his fans,” she explained. As far as touring and doing shows on her own, she said, “We’ve got a couple things with radio stations already in the books for next year, but who knows what the next year will hold. I’m sure things are just going to start popping up!”
Right now, the singer is managing to juggle her radio tour while helping to care for her father. She described how she makes it work. “I still live at my mom’s house… my brother lives there, Shannon, and my cousin, Matt and our good friend, Brody who is also one of my dad’s caretakers. So it’s kind of like this big, care-taking frat house. Matt and Brody work at the memory care facility that my dad currently lives at. It’s very close to our house and so right now I think I’m more of a caregiver to my mom because she needs so much emotional support. And I’m only home on weekends so I definitely make it a point to go and see my dad when I’m home.”
Although it may be difficult at times to leave and focus on her own career, Ashley knows her dad is in good hands while her and her fiddle player, Eli, are out on the road. We quickly jump to a lighter topic as the mention of Eli prompts her to enthusiastically ask, “Do you want to hear a fun fact about my fiddle player?” Of course, because who doesn’t love fun facts! “He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most hand claps in one minute. 1,020. You can look him up on YouTube, Eli Bishop, fastest clapper. He’s kind of been the side show,” she says laughing. (It’s true, by the way. I looked up the video and it’s really quite something.) Obviously, this enticed me to ask for an Ashley Campbell fun fact, which didn’t come to her as quickly. “I can play the Super Mario theme song on banjo,” she said, then paused. “Oh! Another fun fact about me, I’m like totally 100% into zombies. I love Walking Dead, I read all the comics. Like I’m a total nerd at heart,” Ashley added. But really, is there anything uncool about being nerdy these days? She adds that she’s also into Anime TV shows and has been to a Doctor Who convention, as if to convince me of her geek-status.
Nerd or not, Ashley Campbell seems like an all-around remarkable person. She’s smart, kindhearted, and immensely talented. Not to mention she writes, sings, plays her own instruments and knows how to deliver a killer performance. People may be familiar with the Campbell name, but Ashley is an artist in her own right. After just one listen of ‘Remembering,’ you’re guaranteed to become a fan. We can’t wait to hear more from Ashley and see what the future holds, although we’re pretty sure it’s going to be filled with success!
(Main photo: Nick Holmes)