Austin-Based
Singer/Songwriter Ashley Monical Is Facing the Shadow on Debut CD,
Coming October 16 on Firecat Records
New Album
Features Members of the Band of Heathens
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Austin-based singer/songwriter Ashley
Monical announces an October 16 release date for her debut CD, Facing the
Shadow, on Firecat Records. Produced by John Evans and recorded in
nearby Wimberley, Texas, Facing the Shadow is the calling card
for an exciting new Americana artist, showcasing 11 original songs either
written or co-written by Ashley Monical. Backing Monical (lead vocals, guitar
and keyboards) on the new disc are Falcon Valdez (drums) and Scott Davis (bass,
guitar and organ), with special guest appearances by Emily Bell on background
vocals, Eleanor Masterson on violin and Trevor Nealon on keyboards. Monical
will tour substantially in support of the album’s release, including dates
throughout Texas, plus Tennessee, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and
Utah.
The material on Facing the
Shadow is very personal in origin, but universal in appeal, as Monical
explores her own fears and dreams that anyone can relate to in the real world.
At the heart of her songs is the idea of facing your own faults and desires in
life by being truthful to yourself and to others around you. It’s the kind of
musical territory she first began exploring over five years ago when she was
one half of the buzzed-about acoustic folk duo called the Wildflowers, with
singer Halley Anna Finlay. She has even traversed the glitzy “American Idol”
phenomenon that took her out to Hollywood. About that event, Monical remembers,
“It was a cool experience, but it definitely wasn’t really for me.”
The recording sessions for the
new CD came together very organically and in a beautifully- relaxed setting.
Producer John Evans (who also plays guitar on the album) lined up Falcon Valdez
and Scott Davis (Band of Heathens), plus fellow Heathen Trevor Nealon and
Eleanor Masterson for a couple of tracks, and Emily Bell on a few others.
Monical secured the perfect studio space for them to live and work together in
creative seclusion: a cabin in Wimberley on land owned by her father. “We all
stayed out there and recorded the album on equipment that the engineer, Steve
Christensen (from the legendary Sugar Hill Studios in Houston) brought down
with him,” says Monical about the sessions. “I just wanted to be surrounded by
nature and really liked the idea of everyone being out there together with
nothing else around to distract us.”
All of the recording was done
over the course of two weeks in the summer of 2014. And although Monical and
Evans stayed true to their shared big-picture concept for the album as a whole,
they allowed the sessions to flow naturally rather than by any sort of
confining formula. “We just bended and twisted the songs and sound until they
came to a place where we felt right about them,” she explains. “Some fell into
their place right away and some took lots of time, energy and patience, but
they all found their home.”
And the resulting tracks have a
flow that glides smoothly throughout the entire album. The opening song, “A
Child I Was,” is a gorgeous, stately piano ballad with a spiritual theme and
sensual undertow that recalls the Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac sound.
From the fierce resistance coursing through “Hunt Me Down,” to the soulful,
gospel arc of “To the Mountain” and “Traveling Soul;” and from the languid
beauty of “Sleep Child Sleep” (a lullaby Monical wrote for her godson), to the
restless verve and sly bite of “Running” (a surefire single with a razor-sharp
hook worthy of prime Tom Petty), Facing the Shadow is a
multi-faceted study in sonic and emotional contrasts that fit together as a
seamless, three-dimensional whole.
“It’s not really a concept
album,” Monical says, “but I was definitely going through a period of really
discovering who I am and what I stand for and what I believe in over the past
couple of years, and a lot of these songs are definitely about that.”
A good deal of that
self-discovery came out of Monical's decision (self-imposed) in her mid-20s to
go sober. But coming into her own as a performer with the courage — and
obligation — to share her songs in front of strangers, friends, and peers alike
proved an awakening, too.
“Of course, there are still
times nerves creep in a little when I am about to go on stage,” she admits
with a smile. “And for a while, I wanted to call the album ‘Stage Fright’
because I want to face that. I want to bring it out of the dark and shine a
light on it, just to put it out there and ... release it.” She ultimately
decided on Facing the Shadow as the album’s title. “Everyone goes
through a time in their life when they need to face the shadow. My wish is that
this album will not only help folks through that time, but also inspire them to
turn up the volume, roll down their windows and sing along with me in the
moment!” Monical has the courage to own up to and face her fears and
weaknesses, but she’s not about to be defined by them.
About Ashley Monical
Although both of her parents
loved music — so much so that her mother began teaching her how to sing as soon
as she could speak — Monical didn’t begin writing songs until her early 20s.
That’s when the Texas native moved to Austin after spending her teens in
Colorado and growing up overseas for the better part of her childhood. She
began the Austin chapter of her life immersed in theater, discovering her
passion for performance over the course of many experimental plays
— including, she recalls with a laugh, a Greek Tragedy in which she had to
be fully nude onstage every night in front of an audience of 300 people. Talk
about stage fright!
“It was terrifying and
liberating,” Monical admits. “And I feel that performers should always strive
to go to that place, even if they aren’t literally taking their clothes off in
front of hundreds of people. When performers are open and vulnerable, it allows
the audience to be open and vulnerable, too, and it benefits everyone involved
in the sacredness of the art.”
As much as she loved the theater
world, it wasn’t long before Monical found herself drawn like a willing moth to
a flame deeper and deeper into the heart of Austin’s justly celebrated music
scene. “I picked up the guitar at around 21 and just sat alone in my bedroom a
lot - playing through the finger pain - and I learned enough chords to play
some covers, just because I wanted a way to sing,” she recalls. “But then I
started writing my own songs and eventually going down to songwriter night
every Wednesday at Cheatham Street (a legendary venue in nearby San Marcos
where many notable Texas songwriters got their start), and it all kind of
started from there.” She went on to spend the better part of the last decade
playing her songs in front of audiences all over Texas and beyond, from Austin
bars and coffee shops to the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis
to Larry Joe Taylor’s Coastin’ & Cruisin’ music cruise; she landed that gig
— and the chance to perform for thousand’s at the LJT Texas Music Festival —
after winning one of Taylor’s annual songwriting competitions.
All of the experience is readily
apparent on her debut. Monical’s honeyed voice has been honed to crystal clear
perfection and purity over years of choir practices and performances going back
to fourth grade, and every song is a testament to both her poet’s soul as a
writer and her equally graceful way with melody. The album also reveals a
definite sense of purpose; Monical spent months revising her songs to
gig-tested perfection and recording a number of demos with different artists
and producers as a concerted effort to bring her artistic vision into clear
focus. By the time she found just the right producer in John Evans, she knew
exactly the kind of record she wanted to make. And Evans, a seasoned performing
songwriter in his own right, was right there on the same page with her from the
start.
“It wasn’t forced at all,”
Monical enthuses. “John has experience as an artist and fresh ears with an edge
on how he hears music. He is open to new ideas and ways of creating sound and that’s
what made me want to work with him.”
