It all started in a gravel pit in the North Maine Woods. A reluctant graduate student in geology, Kay Ashley was withering under the flinty stare of the noonday sun, hacking away at 10,000-year-old glacial sediments with an army issue hoe pick, all while providing lunch to the legendary northern Maine black flies—and she thought, “there must be something better than this.”

So, Kay decided to leave the rocks in the gravel pits where they belonged, and to return to her first love: music. Since moving to New York City, Kay has become a regular on the NYC singer-songwriter scene, signing onto Brooklyn-based independent label Elizabeth Records in 2002. Her first full-length CD will be released in 2004.

Kay’s guitar playing, alternately rhythmic and delicate, rings in lustrous, resonant open tunings; her voice glides on melodies born of the American and British folk traditions, and soars into Middle Eastern and North Indian tonalities. Mysterious and endearing, evocative and whimsical, Kay’s music draws listeners into a lush, swirling pool of glorious sound. And, on occasion, into the absurd sounds of Led Zeppelin songs played on kazoo.

Kay has played solo in such New York City venues as the Postcrypt Coffeehouse at Columbia University, Sam’s Piano Bar, The Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition BWAC Pier Show, Bar B, The Baggot Inn, The Elbow Room, The Orange Bear and SUN Music Company, as well as The Rising Café in Brooklyn. Kay has also appeared as a member of the David Pilgrim Band in both the prestigious Celebrate Brooklyn Music Festival at the Prospect Park Bandshell, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAM Café. She has performed at the Elizabeth Records showcases at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in both 2001 and 2002. Kay has also performed abroad at Sätra Brunn resort in Sala, Sweden. In addition, Kay is a featured guitarist and vocalist on David Pilgrim’s upcoming CD "Island Soul". Kay has also appeared on stage at the New School's Tishman Auditorium with Marie Afonso (formerly of Zap Mama) and Ken Butler in Jenny Lynn McNutt's experimental multimedia performance piece "33 Swoonings".

Kay recently traveled to India to study North Indian classical vocal music with master vocalist Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, a professor at Calcutta’s prestigious Sangeet Music Research Academy.

Kay’s song “Eyes So Bright” was also recently arranged by jazz pianist/composer David Lahm for vocalist Gail Newman’s cabaret show at New York's famous Danny’s Skylight Room. In addition, Kay has been enjoying airplay on Radio Crystal Blue, a NYC-based internet radio station.

Kay is currently working on her first full-length CD, Leaning Towards the Light, with some of New York City's finest players: guitarist/singer-songwriter/engineer/producer Denise Barbarita, drummer/percussionist Bill Dobrow, bassist David Pilgrim, and guitarist James Yarish. Kay's CD will be released in 2005.

Contact Kay at kay@elizabethrecords.com

Check out Kay's official website

Discography:
Leaning Towards the Light 2005