Ashley Shelton: Bass
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised in Southern Indiana, Ashley had the opportunity for musical experiences on both sides of the Ohio River. Classically trained in percussion by Theodore Otten, the 35-year tympanist for the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, Ashley played in all music related activities that called for percussion (stage band, concert band, marching band, swing choir, concert orchestra, Louisville Youth Symphony, chamber orchestra, pit orchestra).
Much of his youth was spent saving money for drums, buying a piece at a time until my Ludwig black-diamond-pearl drum kit was complete. He managed to talk his parents into buying a set of used tympani instead of a high school class ring. After high school, he played for a year on the Knox-Galesburg Symphony Orchestra in Illinois. His sophomore through senior years was spent at Indiana University, occasionally playing weekends with an established top-40, classic rock bank, Music Unlimited.
The demands of graduate school, marriage, work and fatherhood, took him away from public performance for the next 15 years. After missing his involvement in music for so long, Ashley remodeled his basement, made it jam friendly, and started to recruit local players of all music backgrounds and levels of musicianship to come and jam.
Drummers were plentiful however; it was difficult to keep a bass player. Ashley took a few bass lessons, bought a bass rig and practiced a lot.
After the formation of multiple iterations of electric groups, Blue Fish Crisis emerged and survived. Involvement with BFC continues to add balance to his life. He has learned it better to just grab an axe, jam and have fun rather than get caught up in the intricacies of the music. BFC is the perfect outlet for this.