Ashleigh Flynn celebrates her latest CD, A Million Stars, this spring. According to Flynn, the most profound seed of inspiration for the new record was a watercolor painted by her young niece depicting a cowgirl atop her horse under a starry desert sky. Who was this girl so confidently astride her mount? Calamity Jane? Surely there were others like her? Discovering the painting led her on a quest to learn more about the women of the westward expansion, unnamed heroes that history had largely overlooked. A Million Stars, Flynn’s fourth studio effort on her own Home Perm Records, is produced by Chris Funk, her longtime friend and musical collaborator, best-known as the Decemberists’ multi-instrumentalist. The record features Todd Snider and many of Portland’s most talented musicians including, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee-Drizos, Nate Query, John Moen, Annalisa Tornfelt, and Jesse Emerson, and the Stolen Sweets singers, among others. Dubbed darling of the NW Americana scene by NY’s Village Voice, Ashleigh Flynn, is based in Portland, Oregon, but she grew up in Kentucky where she cut her teeth on home grown bluegrass music every summer down at the Belvedere by the Ohio River. Flynn arrived on the national scene with the release of her third DIY studio record, American Dream in 2008, which was followed by travels across the country, on tours with some of her songwriting heroes, Todd Snider and Nanci Griffith, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin and others. She also completed multiple European tours making fans across the continent. Flynn has been featured on many national & internationally syndicated radio programs that celebrate grassroots Americana music including, the renowned Wood Songs Old Time Radio Hour and the acclaimed Mountain Stage radio program with Nanci Griffith and Todd Snider. Flynn has performed at major music festivals across the US including Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, and High Sierra. A songwriter of exceptional emotional depth, Flynn is also an electrifying performer blessed with unbridled charisma. She has released two prior full-length studio records Chokecherry (2002) and Ashleigh Flynn, self-titled (1999). In late 2005, she released a live record, Sneakin’ Out with Ashleigh Flynn. All four records have received national acclaim and achieved significant sales independently. Perhaps her new friends and some critics sum her up best: • "Ashleigh Flynn represents the next generation of true songwriters. Her songs are wonderful and her voice is like an angel’s. She rules!" --Nanci Griffith, 2010 • “One of my favorite people to perform and hang out with is Ashleigh Flynn from Oregon. Her lyrics are smart, she’s got a voice full of soul, and she knows how to handle a crowd.” --Todd Snider, 2009 • "Her latest release makes it clear that she’s got the natural soulfulness separating the contenders from the pretenders – Flynn’s American Dream is true blue Americana.” --PASTE Magazine, 2008 • “Authentic, smart, fun, funny, engaging, memorable, and enough personality for three performers…If you want to impress your friends by turning them on to a new artist, say 'Ashleigh Flynn' then sit back and accept the accolades.” --Michael Young, Roots n' Boots DJ, WFPK Louisville 91.9 FM - 2009 • "Vocals graced with other-worldy clarity & genuinely compelling storytelling…" --Performing Songwriter, 2008 • “One of Jambase’s finds… Ashleigh Flynn, who hums with the same undeniable power and naked talent as young Joni Mitchell, Ani Difranco, and other(s) who have put their stamp on modern popular songwriting.” --Jambase, 2009 • “How would country music sound if it were mixed gleefully with rootsy Americana and modal Appalachian harmonies by a honey voiced songwriter who left her native Kentucky for Portland OR? Darned Good if that songwriter is Ashleigh Flynn.” --Sing Out, 2009 • "Flynn’s best: a soulful croon best described as a gold plated gift from beyond, a songwriters eye for detail, melodic and hook-filled…" - the Oregonian, 2008 • "The true triumph is Flynn's mastery of her own voice, the most satisfying rootsy gal album to come out of PDX since 2002..." -Willamette Week, 2008