Staff Report
Ashley Eriksson, LAKE lead singer and TV collaborator, has been practicing the art of music since her infancy, singing with her English nanny and, according to her mother, “singing in key.” As a child in Los Angeles, Ashley sang on the Ren and Stimpy Christmas Album; as an adult she sings “Island Song,” the closing credits for Cartoon Network’s cult-sensation Adventure Time.
In junior high, Ashley spent most of her time at home being grounded, focusing her depression on learning guitar chords and singing Beatles songs. It was during this period that Ashley also had many long conversations about music with her oldest brother, who had just returned home from college. This mentorship from Ashley’s brother also involved teaching her how to do home-recording and multi-tracking with his Tascam cassette 4-Track.
Visual art brought 16-year-old Ashley her first real job as a muralist, which eventually allowed her to buy recording equipment and an electric bass.
At 17, Ashley started writing songs more furiously, and at 18, Ashley purchased a digital 8-track, which she still continues to use for the foundation of her home-recordings. Since then, Ashley has made seven solo albums, of which only the most recent, Seasonal Music, Decarnarnation, and now Colours, are widely available.
Ashley founded the band, LAKE, with Eli Moore, Lindsay Schief, and Kenny Tarantino in the summer of 2006. LAKE is currently finishing up two albums recorded in 2012. Ashley’s latest solo album, Colours, was released in the spring of 2013, also by K.
Ashley Eriksson will be playing along with local band Swimming, which will be Swimming’s first performance back in Fayetteville since returning from several months of touring. You can see them both live on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Fayetteville Underground starting at 9 p.m. It’s $5 for all ages
To learn more about Ashley Erikson, visit her blog at www.ashleyeriksson.com. Or to see her video Island Song (Adventure Time closing theme) www.youtube.com/watch?v=okiK0JzY4uA
