MusicRowPics: Ashton Shepherd

Ashton Shepherd visited the MusicRow offices on Monday (July 1) to perform songs from her upcoming project.

She introduced “This Is America,” the first single and title track from her 10-song release on her own Pickin’ Shed Records. “I was in a state of mind of how I feel as an American,” says Shepherd of writing “This Is America.” “I felt like ‘What are we going to do?’ It started off in a sad state of mind, but ended up being positive.”

She also performed “Sounds So Good” and previewed “Spinnin’,” another song from the forthcoming project. “It reminds me of John Anderson’s ‘Would You Catch A Falling Star?’ a little bit. All the instruments answered him a bit [in the track’s production].” This is America is set for a late July release.

She is also thinking of more diverse projects. “I’ve entertained putting out a gospel record, or an album of remakes,” says Shepherd. “Being independent, you feel like you have more control over things. I feel more comfortable doing it as an independent. There’s more than one way to do things in this market, the way things are changing–even down to apps that let you design your album artwork.”

In the more immediate future, Shepherd is busy with her online cooking show, Cooking Country, on Foodie Network Online EWave TV, a multi-channel online television network. The first episode is set to air Thursday (July 4). For more information, visit http://foodies.ewave.tv/.