Ashley Dzerigian

Ashley Dzerigian (La Verne, 22 January 1983) is an American bass player. She currently plays for Adam Lambert, Maximum Hedrum, CeeLo Green and Filter. Previously played for My Jerusalem and Beastie Boys' keyboardist Money Mark. She is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and lives in Los Angeles, California. She plays Fender basses. ^[1]

Ashley previously played for indie-rock band Great Northern.^[2] Great Northern released two studio albums and one extended play. On December 29, 2011 Adam Lambert introduced her as his new bassist.^[3]

Biography

Early life

Ashley was 11 years old when she started playing in the school band on oboe, after she was told that none of her peers used it. She quickly mastered the instrument and immediately drew the attention of the director, who suggested that she play the bass guitar as a second instrument. She immediately began taking private lessons, and by 13, she mastered the double bass. She played in all the musical groups in her school, including the orchestra, jazz ensemble and choir. Ashley attended the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA).Since music for her was something more than just a hobby, she continued playing on bass guitar and bass at the California Institute of the Arts, focusing on jazz, Latin and Afro-Cuban music, and working with mentors such as Alphonso Johnson (Wayne Shorter, Weather Report), Todd Johnson (six-string bass pioneer) and double-bass virtuoso, Darek Oles. Once Ashley graduated from the institute in 2005, she immediately joined the world of indie rock, touring worldwide and recording music several indie bands and artists. ^[4]

Early Career (2005-2011)

From 2005 to 2008, Ashley was a member of Great Northern, releasing the studio album Trading Twilight For Daylight. Unfortunately it was cut short, since the band fired Ashley without reason. She later explained " As much as I’d rather not focus on the split, I’d hate for people to think that i left because I chose to. I was fired and it was completely unexpected... If the fallout never happened, I never would have met Jeff Klein or Ed Harcourt. I’m grateful for the time I spent with Great Northern and I genuinely wish them the best in the future.^[5] Shortly after leaving Great Northern, Ashley toured with Jeff Klein in 2008, eventually prompting him to create the band My Jerusalem with other singers he toured with that year. ^[6] She also joined UK singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt and keyboardist Beastie Boys' Money Mark for their tours.

2011 - 2013

In November 2011, a mutual friend of Ashley and Fender аrtist Tommy Joe Ratliff sent her to audition for American Idol alum Adam Lambert. She auditioned successfully and began making television appearances on shows such as Ellen, Jay Leno's the Tonight Show, American Idol, Good Morning America, Live with Jimmy Kimmel and performances at venues across the world. In late 2012, Adam made a cameo in Pretty Little Liars with his touring band on the Halloween special "This is a Dark Ride. ^[7]

Touring with other musical groups

On January 22, 2013 is the bassist for the band Maximum Hedrum. They later did a mini South American summer tour. On January 22, 2014, it was announced in a fan email that Ashley would be replacing Noah Harmon of The Airborne Toxic Event for a series of shows in 2014, as Noah takes a paternity leave of absence.^[8] In mid February, Ashley stepped down due to unforeseen, last-minute circumstances and was replaced by Adrian Rodriquez.^[9] She later joined Cee-Lo Green for his 2014 tour. In 2015, Filter frontman Richard Patrick announced on the band's Facebook page that Dzerigian along with Oumi Kaplia and Chris Reeve have joined Patrick and Bobby Miller.

Personal Life

Ashley got married to artist Ron Dzerigian at the age of 24. They are now divorced.

Discography

Studio albums

With My Jerusalem

• Gone For Good (2010)
• Preachers (2012)

With Great Northern

• Trading Twilight for Daylight (2007)

With Ed Harcourt

• Lustre (2010)

Filmography

References