Aubrey Ashburn

Aubrey was born in Cleveland, Ohio in November of 1976 and was named after the song Aubrey by the nostalgic group, Bread. Her Mother raised her, along-side her younger brother Beau, single-handedly. In the sting of the divorce of her parents at age six and the nip of lake effect, Aubrey quickly became acquainted with raw emotion and the constant tests on her growing character. There was very little support and money and although the atmosphere was grim, her Mother was determined to raise well-rounded, strong thriving children. Coming from a long line of creative minds, Aubrey was no exception. Her parents noticed her natural sense for intonation and melody at the tender age of 5 ½. She was a clever girl who responded gracefully to learning new things. Her gifts for singing, art and writing started to emerge within the unique programs of the progressive public school system in Lakewood, Ohio. Aubrey was especially enthusiastic and focused on singing as her choral career began at 9 years old. By the time she was eleven Aubrey was learning violin, utilizing her ability to read music. The young orchestra program was barely established and she remembers the lessons taking place in a large hall closet of the school. The lighting wasn’t very good of course, but it was a spot, no less. By the time Aubrey was in high school, she had become passionate about singing and would soon give athletics and instruments a back seat to her performance schedule. Her choir director, Bill Zurkey, was a great supporter and an encouragement to Aubrey’s abilities. She worked privately with Ms. Joan Wheeler on classical voice, which would eventually lead to her acceptance at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Though she could not attend due to lack of funds, it was around this time at 17, when Aubrey’s home life would become too stressful and she would leave home. Her friend and painter, Amy Ringholz, and her family took Aubrey in while she finished high school. Her and Amy’s friendship would soon blossom through a mutual enthusiasm for art. Aubrey took up ballet, jazz and modern dance at the local community college in the evenings. She also worked as a singing hostess for an Italian restaurant four nights a week, performing aria’s acapella. When she starred as Adelaide in her high school’s musical debut Guys and Dolls, Aubrey was struck by the intriguing possibilities of combining her talents for singing, dancing and acting. This created a lightning storm of excitement in Aubrey’s life as many of the people observing confirmed for her the potential she was discovering. Aubrey had a dream of going to New York to become a part of Broadway while majoring in Voice at Juilliard, but when she received her decline letter from the prestigious school, she left Ohio devastated, in search of a new dream. Although Aubrey was accepted at the Boston Conservatory for Musical Theatre, she decided to close the door on performing completely. Cutting off twenty-four inches of hair and packing her things, she picked a place on the map and landed in San Diego, California in September of 1995. There were no plans and no familiar faces. Aubrey sat in great silence and contemplation for many weeks, and one day when she was outside looking up into the sun, she realized that every few minutes a small airplane would fly overhead. “There must be a little airport nearby”, she thought. Then, in a deep quiet moment, a voice came up from the back of her mind; it was not her own voice speaking, “I want to learn to fly!” it said. Aubrey responded to it, “Really?” Three days later, she found herself in an airplane taking off with an Instructor from Montgomery Field. This was the moment that she fell head over heals in love with the empowering act of flying. Aubrey went on to acquire her single engine pilot’s license at age 20 in August of 1997. She had a great appreciation for the things that aviation taught her; she observed it as a higher metaphor for understanding herself and life. She extrapolated these patterns, pouring them into an enormous journal. Soon, a book of aphorisms took shape and her lifelong artist friend Amy, created illustrations that would bring to life the wisdom and virtue of each mantra. Sometime in 1998, Aubrey found herself surrounded by planes, pilots and airports while not one soul had a clue of her singing ability. She switched gears again, realizing that flying was too much fun to do for a living. Aubrey returned to her musical roots, but this time with a different dream. She realized that if she wanted to sing she had to learn to write songs. She picked up a chord chart and a guitar and out came her first handful of folk-like material. She realized very quickly that she had a natural lyrical ability, while at the same time; she had to work very hard at guitar and the concepts of chord structure and harmony.Aubrey went back to school to continue her education in music. She moved to Santa Paula to work with music producer Jerry Merrill, who was a long-time friend of Aubrey’s father, also a singer-songwriter. JM mentored Aubrey, not letting her settle for typical chord movements and predictable melodies. They both had a vision of making a sophisticated developmental record that would showcase their combined talents. In 1999 Aubrey filmed her first 16mm music video Around The Door, with the support of Mr. Tom Benjamin, a friend of JM’s and an avid lover of music. In spring of 2003 Aubrey’s original album Sleeping Virtue, was released on JM’s label, Gaston Music Group. Turning down a grant to study philosophy at UC Berkeley, Aubrey then moved to Los Angeles to spur interest in her new release. She performed at open mics and many acoustic venues such as Genghis Cohen, Molly Malone’s, Highland Grounds and Club Lingerie. She found out quickly that not many of the industries decision makers were hanging out in live venues. It was in early 2005 that Aubrey knew she had to switch gears and learn about the business from the inside. She was offered a sales position in the video game division at Soundelux, representing composers and sound designers. It was there that Aubrey gained valuable insight and confidence in creative processes and business. She was thrust into the ever-growing modern world of video games where it was still possible for her to play a part. Aubrey’s voice can be heard in the Elvin choir from EA’s Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II and the ethnic battle cries in Capcom’s Lost Planet. Currently, Aubrey works in LA as a freelance singer & songwriter for video games, film and TV. She is in the early writing stages for her next record. She oil paints regularly and is in the process of publishing the book she wrote ten years ago with friend and collaborator, Amy Ringholz. The biggest joy in her life is her partner, Tony and her stepdaughter, Camille whom she loves very much.