We were lucky to catch up with Morgan Ashley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Morgan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I didn’t officially think about a career as an artist until I was 17 years old! I did the FFA (Future Farmers of America) Talent Show and sang ‘Famous In A Small Town’ by Miranda Lambert. I only sang to background tracks because I did not play an instrument, but there were other people in the competition that played the guitar and I thought that was the coolest thing! I immediately picked up the guitar that collected dust in the corner of my room for years and finally learned how to play the thing! I received guitar lessons from a gal in Katy, Texas and she was pursuing a career as an artist as well and really made me believe this was something I could do. I always viewed having a career equal to Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood’s career would be something that would be impossible to achieve but I’ve come to realize that is absolutely not true! At 17 the music bug bit hard, and I’ve been chasing this dream ever since. To some it may seem like it came out of nowhere, but looking back I loved my karaoke machine as a kid and would put on concerts for my parents. I also loved playing guitar hero, and even wrote songs about my horses and cows! I think pursuing a career as an artist is exactly what I’ve always been meant to do!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hailing from College Station, Morgan Ashley grew up raising show cattle and barrel racing. She decided at age 17 to finally pick up the guitar that sat in the corner of her room for years and
hasn’t put it down since! The Texas Music bug bit hard, and she knew she belonged on a stage
somewhere in Texas. Morgan currently plays over 150 dates a year at venues across Texas and
beyond, introducing her unique brand of country music to fans at each stop. She has had seven
songs chart in the Top 40 or higher on Texas Radio, and her all-time Spotify streams are over
250,000! She won the 2021 New Female Vocalist of the Year award at the Texas Regional Radio
Music Awards and the 2021 Female Artist of the Year award at the Texas Country Music
Awards. Strong vocals mixed with witty lyricism poured over an ice cold country tune is the perfect recipe for a Morgan Ashley song!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a singer/songwriter/artist is writing a song that means something to me, and going and playing it live and connecting with the audience. I pour my heart out into all my songs, and to have someone come up and say that they really loved the song and maybe even shared a similar experience is the whole reason I do what I do. Music is a universal language, and music is healing.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My biggest goal in my career as an artist is to be able to fully be an artist for a living. If you asked me where I wanted to take my career, I would say well as far as it can go of course! I want to be able to connect with as many people as possible along the way through my songs. At the end of the day, I would love to not have to work my day job in accounts receivable and focus all of my energy on my art and get to do what I love for a living.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.morganashleyofficial.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/morganashleyofficial
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/morganashleyofficial
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/morganashleyd
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@morganashley4210
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@morganashleyofficial
Image Credits
Otis White