WOW! What a wonderful country.....the people, the food, the history....and THE MUSIC!

I was blessed with great crowds, great reviews, and a great band - No Rolling Back. Check out their myspace page (they are the first of my friends below) - for pictures and live recordings of our tour.

To Italy I say, Grazie Mille!!! Arrivederci a presto!

Performing Songwriter...July/August Issue

Ashleigh Flynn 
American Dream 

Possessing vocals graced with an otherworldly clarity, it's tempting to call Ashleigh Flynn Americana's answer to Norah Jones. That comparison, however, hardly describes Flynn's genuinely compelling storytelling.

Begun with her hushed invocation "Don't hear nothin' on my radio," Dream is a recognition of something lost yet somehow kept. Every melodic turn bears wondrous touches, from old-fashioned typewriter percussion ("Knock on Wood") to her title track's slow-mo banjo and boozy trumpet solo.

Whether basking playfully ("Mystery"), rocking on a pop sparkler ("Evangeline") or issuing a jaunty farewell ("The 7th Sea"), Dream finds Flynn joyously awake in her essential truth. —GG

JamBase, High Sierra Review

Sunday opened with Ashleigh Flynn and the Killdeer Orchestra under the Vaudeville Tent charming the sun from its hiding place in the night.  Some of the finest singer-songwriter stuff these ears have heard in a few years, Flynn and her boys (Portland's wonderful acoustic explorers Sneakin' Out under a new guise) beguiled a smiling audience that grew steadily throughout their set, drawing in passersby with the sheer fineness of their picking, singing and composition. 

Seriously, I haven't been knocked back by a female songwriter like this since I first encountered a young Patty Griffin or Nanci Griffith.  Flynn's uncommonly real tales possess an amazing eye for detail that situates one in the moment and captures all the small things we miss as life unfolds but ultimately prove to be the most important aspects of our experiences.  Like the best outsiders, she captures all the ache of waiting on the sidelines as the pretty people glide across the dance floor, so much more graceful and beloved than we will ever be. 

Combine that fantastic raw material with a full-bodied, womanly voice and collaborators that tucked subtle, inspired complications into what can be well-worn territory and you had one of the festival's highlight this year.  And their facility for quietly upending traditionals like "Rocky Top" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" (carried along by typewriter percussion!) added icing to what was already a real joy. 

 I will be seeking out Flynn's new album, American Dream, forthwith. -- Dennis Cook

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