Calgary, Alberta’s The Ashley Hundred are a psychedelic rock band without boundaries or burdens. Five collaborators from disparate musical upbringing, piling competing sonic ideas onto scampering melodies in a dense forest of harmonic idiosyncrasy.
“there is no visionary [in the band]” according to banjo and steel player Brett Cassidy. Every member contributes to the songwriting and direction of each song. Drummer Michael De Souza brings hip-hop and R&B influence, guitarist Carson Stewart enforces tension into sonic corners with dark jazz chords and clever harmonic pathways, Andrew Franks introduces surreal lyrical turns of phrase, Jordan Moe puts forward an assured rock backdrop with hefty bass guitar, and banjo/steel player Brett Cassidy textures the compositions with country craftsmanship and folk finesse.
The Ashley Hundred began in 2012 as a group of friends experimenting with sound. Soon, acoustic guitars gave way to synthesizers, one EP became two, and in January 2016 at a sold out show at the Palomino in Calgary, AB, they realized how far they had come. Now, the band has released their debut full length album and completed three tours across Canada. They were the first recipients of the Prophet’s of Music Mentorship Program and were nominated for Rock Song of the Year at the 2018 YYC Music Awards. They have performed at Junofest, Sound//Off Summit, Canadian Music Week and opened for The Elwins and Reuben and the Dark.
Their latest single, “Talking to Myself,” is a guitar-centric pop jam about the final days of a relationship, when two people are existing separately in a shared room. It’s a fast and rhythmic exercise, with intricate vocal harmony to prove the value of synchronization.
“All At Once” began as a tight banjo ballad and spiralled into a "sonic journey" with psychedelic "twists and turns." In it the Ashley Hundred march into Fripp-styled prog as they investigate what it means to get “caught up in what you believe” and how difficult it can be to see outside of your own perspective.