The Lookout Service at Waterloo Arts Fest

Rumors abound the indie folk scene of singer-songwriter Ashley Brooke Toussant's musical education as a street urchin on the streets of Paris. Of a voice honed behind the walls of a French Prison and then a subsequent break-out involving a well-timed and perfectly executed lullabye. The rest, as they say, is history, with Ms. Toussant arriving slightly tussled but undaunted on the shores of this fair country, Lady Liberty greeting her as she steamed toward a new life. This telling of the Roots of Ashley Brooke Toussant, though certainly mysterious and provocative, is largely untrue. "If I had a nickel for how many times I get asked if my name is French," said Ashley, allowing her characteristic sense of humor to mount, "I could buy some sour patch kids." Ashley Brooke, surprisingly, has never been to Paris. Likewise, she has never made a living as a street performer there. But this is not to say she could not lull a rowdy concert hall into submission using only the gentle ebb and flow of her voice. Like a caged canary yearning liberty from the deepest coal mine in Appalachia, so springs Ashley Brooke's voice from her modest 5’-2 1/2” frame. In reality, this frame's foundation was set in the fertile grounds of Canton, Ohio, some twenty-four years ago. From her crib, Ashley, clutching a self-made toy microphone, would make music for herself. She could sing a song before she could tell a story. Poetry and then prose; music before everything else in the world. "I would rock in my seat, singing as a youngster," said Ms. Toussant, "so hard that I broke both my high chair and crib. I've always loved to sing." With aspirations of fame and fortune sprouting at a young age, and the gumption to follow through, Ashley Brooke sought to refine her craft, taking eight years of vocal training through elementary and high school. Like many aspiring artists, she shot for the stars, considered a life in Hollywood. But as high school ended, Ashley found a nice niche for herself within the folk scene. The two dovetailed nicely: Ashley Brooke + Folk Music; Folk Music + Ashley Brooke ; BFFs ; tru <3 4e ; etc. ; etc. While in college, she secured an internship at NPR affiliate station WKSU-fm in Kent, Ohio. Working under the esteemed tutelage of folk music host Jim Blum, her exposure to folk music broadened. Her tastes expanded to include the likes of Carole King, Jackson Browne, Kate Wolf, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and Patty Griffin. Though Ashley Brooke admits to drawing inspirations from those songwriters, she tends to stray away from any particular artist as someone to emulate. She distills the raw emotion intrinsic to any folk song, makes it her own, then dispenses it, ever so gingerly, in her own voice. "I feel inspired by many different people/ things/ occurrences everyday," said Ashley Brooke. "I feel inspired by positive people. I also enjoy fun loving, wacky people. It's true what they say, 'you can't take life too seriously.' My family and friends inspire me, with their love and endearing support." After several years of gigging around Northeast Ohio, Ashley Brooke decided a change was in order. In particular, she wished to validate her earlier claims to break free of the cage of Ohio and make her living as a singer. She flew the coop and landed in Chicago. Settling quickly into the rhythm of the big city, she lugged her guitar and amp to various open mics, and within a few months of the move, found herself in a studio with Grammy Award winning producer Jim Tullio. Used to the DIY indie aesthetic - hand-labeled CDs, self-production and the like - Ashley was quickly introduced to the other side of music. "It felt pretty fancy," Ashley said. "I got to watch all the piecing together and watched my music turn into a bonafide 'song.' " With the release of Ashley Brooke Toussant's debut EP, All Songs In English, a wonderful little showcase of her talent, she comes a smidge closer to the dream planted in her crib, sprouted in adolescence, then nurtured into young adulthood. She takes her unique gift - singing and writing songs - into the wide world. But Ashley's uniqueness does not lie solely in her ability to attract a production deal and spread her music to the masses. Rather, one becomes acquainted to the Ashley Brooke Toussant experience through her live show. In an era when people expect of their music to be so loud as to simply drown in it, to pay no heed to a message delivered subtly, Ms. Toussant offers a quiet alternative. The listener is forced to pay attention. "Or else," said Ashley, shaking her fist and giving the stink-eye. One expects a live show to be loud. Ashley Brooke turns that notion on its head. She is the experience. Demanding, passively/aggressively, the listener's attention. The canary is loosed from the cage, navigating the labyrinth of tunnels, its song reverberating against the walls of coal, then through the mouth of the cave, and into the bright, bright light of the world. --A brief biography by Ryan deBiase--