BIO

Photo credit:

Angela Stonebridge

“Singer-songwriter Jo Ash’s debut demands that we take notice. Jo’s balladry is unapologetically dramatic with swooping vocals perfectly suited to her gothic tales”.

The Musician, Musician’s Union, on ‘Constellations’, 2019

"...an album of introspection, intensity, imagination and above all of confident, well-structured song writing".

Cambridge Music Reviews on Constellations, 2018

“...a brilliant writer and a spellbinding performer…”

Karen Angela, Kontra Roots event, 2018

“Jo Ash was just wonderful … playing amazing songs with charm, passion and verve….I was simply mesmerised”.

Howard Rankin, Cambridge Rock Festival, 2017

“An absolute stunner from start to finish”.
Andrew Lock ('Sounds and Visions') on EP ‘Here, Then & Somewhere Else’, 2021

“A very clever and well thought out set of 2 EPs”.
Michael Pipe (Music Promoter) on EPs ‘Matinee’ and 'After Dark', 2021

Jo Ash. A working musician with a wealth of capability: critically-acclaimed, award-nominated, instantly recognisable, unique vocals, intricate piano, strong melodies and dramatic songs.

Jo’s music is immersive. Her songs comment on life as she observes and experiences it, sometimes with wry humour, sometimes with heart-felt introspection, and sometimes with both. And when her imagination takes flight into the world of the unexpected they tell engaging stories of vampires, magicians and buried treasure! Audiences can’t get enough.

The Musician’s Union reviewed her debut album ‘Constellations’ and came up with 23 words that brilliantly sum up Jo and her art: “Singer-songwriter Jo Ash’s debut demands that we take notice. Jo’s balladry is unapologetically dramatic with swooping vocals perfectly suited to her gothic tales”.

Jo is a consummate professional. She has appeared on the BBC and other independent radio stations, and performs widely and regularly across the UK at festivals and other music venues. Her live appearances have a sense of theatre which she has honed over the years, and a measure of the strength of her audience appeal is that whenever she performs somewhere new she is always asked back.

During the pandemic Jo unleashed a skill and passion for music and video production, and combining her imagination and newfound love for the creative and technical processes, she has since released three EPs, a Christmas single, two music videos, three music lyric videos, and in May 2023 she released her 11 track album 'Growing, Flying, Falling'.

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As well as performing as a spellbinding solo act, Jo’s inner 'raaaar’ is on full show as song-writer and front woman of rock band Derecho with whom she’s played over 150 shows at festivals, clubs and other music venues across the UK. The band has released two studio albums and three EPs featuring Jo’s songs, and receives constant global radio airplay.

Derecho are: Jo Ash (piano/vocals), Mike Wheatley (guitar), Mike Ellis (drums), Steve Banks (bass).

More on Derecho can be found via the website here.

"I remember Monday evenings being a burden to my nine year old, and somewhat less appreciative, self. My parents had signed me up for piano lessons and I was less than enthused! But who was I to disregard their wishes? So, straight after school I would walk to Miss Wilson’s house and then, for half an hour - and often after my sister’s violin lesson - I would sit beside her at a piano that sat against the wall in a small, but cosy, room. Miss Wilson, an elderly lady, taught traditionally, and with only a slight strictness that was surpassed by a natural warmth.

And so it began… firstly with middle C, branching out into black notes, and then climbing up through the grades over a period of several years.

I always left pre-lesson practice until the last minute and found the whole thing a bit of a chore until I found my creative streak… and then everything changed. At 15 I wrote my first song (which was called ‘Always Be Here’) and I haven’t stopped writing since!

I will always be grateful to my parents and to Miss Wilson. From my unenthusiastic learner beginnings I gradually developed a love for not only the sound of a piano but the way it allows me to frame my storytelling. And that’s now my thing… storytelling, and my desire to write and then share those stories with those that want to hear them."

Jo Ash

BIO