Welcome and thanks for participating in the Gutiartropolis community. I'm Mitchell Ashley, a lifelong lover of music and passionate advocate of playing guitar, writing and performing great music. Guitartropolis is my idea for creating a community of guitar players and guitar lovers who find enjoyment talking shop about their passion and experiences. Whether you're an electric, acoustic, or bass player, expert or newcomer, all are welcome to join in and participate.
Bio/Discography. My passion for playing music started with my first guitar lesson in the 4th grade. My goal was to play Green Eyed Lady by Sugarloaf. I soon was playing with friends and cohorts in our garages and basements, attempting to play songs from the late sixties and seventies. Though I can't say I was much of a guitarist then, I did concentrate on playing jazz trombone in high school stage band and college lab bands.
Before graduating from high school, I dusted off my white Univox electric guitar and traded it in for an electric bass so I could play in the band Eloi with a really cool girl I liked. She later became my bride and is the love of my life today! A couple of the bands I loved to listen to as a bass player were Spyro Gyra and later, The Rippingtons. Since then I've had the immense pleasure of meeting their bass player Kim Stone, even sitting in with him at a few of the Acid Jazz sessions in Colorado Springs. Funny, the amazing pleasures life can bring your way.
My commitment to playing music started by paying my way through college as a working musician in the bands Jolly Roger (a "middle of the road" band) and Black Water (a rock band), sitting in on other occasional band gigs, and working at Yanda's Music in Kearney, NE. Not many bass players were around back then which gave me the opportunity to play with a lot of great musicians and sit in on some fun gigs. The best (and maybe only) way to be a regularly working band in the middle of Nebraska was to play all kinds of music, which greatly expanded my repertoire to include swing, country and blues along with my rock and jazz roots.
It was in Jolly Roger where I honed my ability to improvise and play songs I'd never heard on the fly by listening and picking up queues, and applying my ear and music structure knowledge to anticipate chord changes and song structure. I found it a unique challenge to develop bass lines I knew I could use as jumping off points to just about any chord change. We alwasy had a blast doing our "Booze Brothers" set where the guitar player, T.J., and I dressed up as Jake and Elwood "booze". I was most fortunate to play with some very talented musicians who were much more skilled than I. Those were some very fun times and I enjoyed the friendships I made with Dave, Steve, Alan, Kris, Lori, and the late TJ Hanlin.
After taking a break during the mid-80's through the early 90's to focus on my career in software and networking technology companys, I came back to music by playing bass in contemporary worship services in church and participating in local open mic nights. My occsaional professional gigs were sitting in on bass for local concert performances and visiting artists. I made the shift to playing guitar as my primary instrument around 1999, percipitated by a change in personel at my church gig, playing in God's House Band. Though I loved playing bass, I found it difficult to sing and faithfully play in the pocket, and I also had a yearning to get deep into the guitar by learning and playing those things I never got to after shifting to bass. (I wish now I'd locked myself in my bedroom for two years back when I was a kid, immersing myself in learning the guitar.)
Once I switched, my passion for playing electric guitar kicked into full gear and I haven't turned back yet. My guitar playing in church expanded to more singing opportunties and eventually leading worship, and today I'm a contemporary service worship leader, band leader of God's House Band, on the staff at Broomfield United Methodist Church in Broomfield, CO.
In 2000 I really wanted to kick my knowledge and skills playing gutiar up several levels so I sought out to find just the right teacher. I wanted more than technique or raw skills, I wanted someone who really understood the kind of guitar playing and sound I was after. That's when I met Michael Reese, introduced to me by a mutual friend, Scotty Cash. I had an immediate affinity with Michael because of our similar tastes in music, guitar playing style and quest for classic and powerful Strat tones. His playing style and tone had many of the attributes I was seeking, plus he turned out to be a really great guy. Our relationship graduated from teacher/student to a long standing friendship, and I still take lessons and pointers from Michael today.
In 2005 Michael and I collaborated together on the Shelter, River of Souls CD, along with former Joe Walsh touring and recording keyboardist, friend and former F5 bandmate of Michael's, Tommy Stephenson. The CD was a combined effort of previously written songs, and pieces cowritten by the three of us. Tommy and I combined our works together for the lyrics on Father and Son, a song relfecting on the parallels in our relationships between a young man and his father, us and Christ, and with our father God.
During 2006 I embarked on one of my long time dreams, to build my "dream Strat". My project Strat is a fiesta red, pao ferro fretboard, fat neck, light weight body, Fender-style Strat with that creamy, overtone laced, classic rock Strat sound of the late 60's and 70's. Studio sound engineers and other gutiarists I respect frequently tell me it's the best sounding Strat they've heard. It's a joy to play.
In 2007 I helped found and served as chairman for The Kingdom Project (learn more here), a company inspired by the vision of God's House Band acoustic guitar player Ike Elliott. The Kingdom Project helps unite aspiring Christian song writers with inspired funding sources to help get their music recorded. Proceeds are donated to artist selected charitable organizations. During 2007 I had the pleasure of playing lead and rhythm guitars, and singing on the first CD project, His Hands: Double Booked.
Today in addition to serving and working at BUMC, I continue to play and lead worship services, write and record, while continuing to hone my skills as a passionate guitar player and hopeful song writer. And I'm still on that life long quest for the ultimate guitar tone (though my project Strat is pretty darn close!) Guitartropolis combines my passion for music, social media (blogging), Internet technologies, and building communities, giving me a new outlet to bring together musicians with a common interest and bond.
Inspiration & Influences: My guitar influences include David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Edge, Terry Kath and Michael Reese. My bass influences include Carol Kaye, Paul Goddard, Randy Meisner, Stanley Clarke and Kim Stone.
Seminal albums that greatly influenced my musical direction are "Led Zeppelin II", Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" and "Wish You Were Here", Eric Clapton's "Pilgrim", Jeff Beck's "Wired" and "Guitar Shop", "Chicago Transit Authority" and "Chicago V", The Alan Parson's Project "Turn of a Friendly Card", U2's "The Joshua Tree", and Peter Gabriel's "So".
Guitartropolis Editor & Blogger: My role in Guitartropolis is as author, editor, recruiting for contributors, and building the online Guitartropolis community. Interested contributors and advertisers can contact me at mitchell@guitartropolis.com.
Dedication: I would like to dedicate all my work on this site to the late T.J. Hanlin, a versital and talented guitar player who I admire and miss to this very day. T.J. could hear a song once and sing it, never missed a lyric, knew more songs off the top of his head than you knew existed, and sang them with a heart and voice of gold. He and I spent hunderds of hours playing together and traveling in the van between gigs and became good friends. Most of all he was a blast to play music with. It's in part thanks to T.J. I have the love of guitars that I do. Thank you and I miss you here on earth.
