Ashton Harrell Big Dreams and even Bigger Voice!
Ashton Harrell
Last year I stumbled upon a young talent that immediately caught my attention. He was just 14 at the time and already had mastered professional showmanship, stage presence, exhilarating vocals, and had opened stage performances for some of the top young artists in the music industry. While circumstances kept us from doing an immediate article, I’m happy to finally introduce to you for the first time on Rivenmaster’s Place Ashton Harrell. Ashton now15, is an incredibly talented young man who has been gifted with a natural ability to perform. We read on his MySpace Site that “When Ashton was just four years old he asked his mother if he could go on stage at a local amusement park and sing “Take Me Home Country Roads” in front of hundreds of people.” The bio goes on to say that he ran up on stage and belted it out perfectly without missing a word. It was this experience that catapulted his desire to be a singing performer. He has moved way beyond crowds of hundreds today, having performed in front of well over 100,000 people.
At the age of 5, Ashton started performing in his school talent shows. Year after year, the audience came back to hear the “Little Boy with the BIG VOICE”. It was at this point that Ashton realized how great it felt to be able to touch people and put a smile on their face with just his voice.
Since Ashton’s singing ability had such an effect on his audience, at the age of 7 he decided to give acting a try. That came just as natural for him and from the ages of 7-10, Ashton performed in several commercials, plays, and two independent films.
At the age of 10 years old, Ashton got his first big break when Disney came to call. He auditioned for and made a Radio Disney Group called RD7. From 2006-2007 Ashton had the privilege to tour for Disney and open for major recording artists, such as The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, The Cheetah Girl’s, and Kelly Clarkson. During this time, Ashton also competed in a National Disney High School Musical Competition. He won 1st place locally and went on to place in the top 10 across the country.
In the same time frame, while Ashton was still a treble, Cartoon Network found and contacted Ashton through his You-Tube account where his cover of “Lights” by Journey was the most viewed for several months. In 2008 Ashton was named one of “20 of AMERICA’S MOST TALENTED KIDS” an was featured on Cartoon Network’s “Props” TV show.
After the one year Disney term ended, Ashton and one of the RD7 members wanted to continue to perform and relay a positive message to today’s youth. That is where “No Limit” was formed. “No Limit” consisted of 2 singers and 3 dancers and traveled and performed across the East Coast showing young kids that “you can reach your goals and dreams, if you work hard and stay true to yourself”. It was this group and message that intrigued producer Dave Moody from Elevating Entertainment to produce the film:
“Much Ado About Middle School”
Ashton was cast as the co-lead in the film that focuses on the ups and downs of middle school and how one group of young people can change an enter towns way of looking at things. Ashton was privileged to work with some of the industry’s most experienced actors, such as Bill Cobbs and Lee Meriwether. Ashton stated; “It was an awesome experience to learn from the best”. The film has won a Dove award and this past March Elevating Entertainment Motion Pictures and its US/Canadian distributor Bridgestone Multimedia Group announced plans for the Summer 2010 release of the movie and BMG will distribute the DVD. In addition a soundtrack CD will also be available through Lamon Records Nashville.
Since the completion of the film, Ashton continues to work on his music and guitar playing. A few months ago, Ashton competed in and won a local talent competition and The Outer Banks “American Idol”. From this, he was asked to join the cast of “The Outer Banks Music Showcase”, where he does solo and group acts weekly.
Most recently, Ashton became the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band, “iKonic”. The band consists of four guys between the ages of 15 and 16. They perform the best covers of today’s and yesterday’s Rock Music. Ashton may no longer be a treble like he was when I first met him but his development into one of the best young singers in the country has been a pleasure to watch. Here’s Ashton singing Boondocks in a recent talent competition.
In the upcoming months, Ashton will be traveling to New Jersey to audition for “American Idol”. He was very excited to find out that he met the hit TV show’s new age requirement by just 15 days!
He will also be entering the studio to record his first CD which is expected to be released in early 2011. The CD will feature original songs that combine Ashton’s unique COUNTRY/ROCKER style with his absolutely amazing vocal ability.
I’m not sure what other youngsters will be singing in next year’s American Idol but I can assure you that I know who I will be cheering for everystep of the way. It will be the young guy with BIG DREAMS and an even BIGGER VOICE, Ashton Harrell
For more about Ashton visit his websites using the links in this article and be sure to return to his website for future updates about his new CD!
