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Taken from USACOUNTRYUK (Mar 30, 2016)
INTERVIEW WITH ASHTON LANE AT THE C2C FESTIVAL
by USACOUNTRYUK
Ashton Lane |
It was a long, but worthwhile trip for Ashton Lane who made the journey from Glasgow to London with two small children in tow to perform at this years C2C festival. Esther and Tim were kind enough to spend a few spare minutes to talk to USACOUNTRYUK about their time down south in between performances at the Brooklyn Bowl and the Big Entrance stage.
What was the reception like during your performance at the Brooklyn Bowl?
The crowd was really lovely and it was great to see the support for Scottish country!
How did you come together as a band?
We met each other after Esther performed at a bar. After that moment we did various gigs together and really connected over the music. We also did a lot of volunteering and were doing youth work together where we performed a lot together during that time. Very soon after we met we started writing songs, being singer songwriters, and the sound and lyrics really connected from there.
What drew you to country music?
It evolved out of the fact that we were singer songwriters and spent a great deal of time in Nashville. The sound that we heard out there really shaped our own sound and the path that we wanted to follow. We were greatly inspired by the music that we heard, but it is also something that we grew up with.
Esther: I grew up listening to Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin and Bonnie Raitt. The singer songwriters that influenced my own music were country music artists right from the start. At about the age of 14 or 15 those were the songs that inspired me when writing and playing the guitar.
What connected you to the more of the current stream of country artists?
Well we had never really heard of Lady Antebellum before and it was an American producer who we had worked with told us that we needed to check these guys out! As soon as we heard their music we thought this is amazing and we love this music!
Can you give an insight behind the success of your latest album ‘Nashville Heart’?
We are getting great reviews for the album and just had a five star review from the magazine Maverick. We spent a lot of time and put a lot of heart into the album so its great to see that we are getting the positive feedback from the crowd. We are very proud of the album and feel like the songwriting is developing all the time with the album.
Where do you get your inspiration for the songs you write?
There are a lot of stories in Nashville Heart; a lot of real life stories that are either based on us or based on things that we have observed. The stories have really inspired us to write. That’s one thing that we love about country music, that you get to tell these amazing stories.
What is the inspiration behind your latest track ‘One Kiss Later’?
It’s really based on a simple love song! It captures that moment when you meet someone. You feel fragile and you’re uncertain of how it’s all going to go, before you take the plunge. It’s a fresh love before all the security that is surrounded by the likes of a couple that have been married for twelve years (like us!).
Where are your next tour stops after C2C?
Our first stop is a gig in Glasgow on April 13th and then we have a few stops in the summer. We are also heading out more into Europe later on in the year as well. The number of gigs just keeps growing and growing!
What made you decide to extend your tour to other parts of Europe?
We’ve toured Denmark before and had a wonderful time. The venues and everything about it was so rewarding. There’s such a vibrant essence to it, with the heavy culture and the arts, which we are also heavily into.
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