Nice Ash: Press

...I think that you may be a household name someday. You certainly have what it takes...

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...We had a great weekend festival. Many thanks for your performances and for helping to make the Great Waters Folk Festival another smash hit this year...

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Ash Fischbein (AKA Nice Ash), like many aspiring musicians, started at a young age. He was given a cheapo guitar at eight but stuck with the task of learning it and even took professional lessons for six years.

Fischbein’s dedication paid off, because his obvious skills can be heard throughout this CD. I love the guitar playing on “Haggard Man." It’s like a one-song lesson in how to play blues acoustic guitar. There’s plenty of moody picking, as well as cranking slide work that will remind you of Led Zeppelin. Guitar playing is what Fischbein does best, because there are all kinds of wonderful acoustic guitar sounds emanating out of this disc.

“Haggard Man” also features Fischbein’s best vocal on the disc. You can just feel the urgency when his voice goes all rough to sing, “I don’t know where I’m going, you don’t know where I’ve been.” I’m not sure if this track’s title is a tip of the hat to Merle Haggard, but its lyric could just as well describe The Hag. He may be one of the most popular country artists of all time, but I doubt that many know him well. I can just hear him reprimanding someone by saying, “You don’t know where I’ve been.” And at that point, you best just leave the icon alone.
“Haggard Man” is not the sort of country music Merle Haggard makes – it’s much closer to acoustic blues, instead. “Over The Ledge," however, is the straight country stuff with just a taste of bluegrass. This one features Lance MacLean’s mandolin and Meredith Akerley’s supportive backing vocal. It’s the sort of song that makes you feel like you’re relaxing on a camping trip. In fact, the CD’s back cover pictures Fischbein wading in a lake on just such a camping trip.

None of this CD’s first three songs prepare the listener for “Is This Fate?” Unlike the Americana elements that drive the opening tracks of Daydream, “Is This Fate?” finds Fischbein singing in an affected vocal tone and performing a song that owes much of its influence to Seattle’s grunge movement. There is a psychedelic guitar solo and the sound effects of people chattering in a bar.

The track “Is This Fate?” acts as a mood shifter because both “In A Pill” and “All Awake," while less electric musically, also follow the unhappy mood of “Is this Fate?” But then again, this man knows a little bit about pain. He severely injured his right hand in 2005, causing nerve damage. But Fischbein applied the same determination he used to learn the guitar, to his recovery. It’s hard to imagine he’s disabled at all after listening to this CD.

Nope, this is no daydream. It’s surely a dream come true for Ash Fischbein to play so beautifully once again.

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...."It was an Amazing performance!!!
With loops and effects Ash created layers of music that fitted seamlessly together.
A wonderful set all in all.!! Great job Ash come on back!!...."

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Hey the CD release party was GREAT! You filled the house even with a 12 inch snow storm. The music was better than ever and everybody enjoyed and had a great time.Can't wait to do it again.

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Guitarist finds new sensation
William A. Huffman

— OSSIPEE — For guitarist Ash Fischbein, the worst night of his life has inspired a newfound drive to pursue his passion.

Fischbein, 26, of Center Ossipee, has been playing guitar since he was 8 years old, yet he has just released his first CD, "Daydream," under the pseudonym or nickname, Nice Ash. His official CD release party is April 4 in Wolfeboro and has already sold out of the 150 tickets.
His parents got him a $40 Harmony guitar when he expressed interest in playing. He says they probably thought it was a phase and he would be disinterested quickly. Only, his interest continues to be cultivated almost two decades later.

He says his desire for a guitar stemmed from "the way music made me feel. I love emotions. I love when you get proficient with an instrument you can create those emotions for yourself and others. Music is unconditional."

This new direction — an album, more gigs, self-promotion — spawned from what he describes as a near-death experience. It was little more than two years ago, Jan. 23, 2005, and Fischbein (pronounced fish-bine) and his girlfriend were still getting used to their new home — an old house he purchased. It was late, around midnight, during a blizzard, and he awakened to use the bathroom. After turning off the bathroom light, the house was pitch black and he was beginning to navigate his way back to the bedroom. "I stubbed my toe on a stove," Fischbein recalls. "It hurt and I got mad at myself and slammed my hand down on the kitchen counter," which he says was clean of obstacles except for one cheap, thin bar glass, which shattered. "I almost bled to death," he says. "I severed the artery in my wrist." Due to the snowstorm, it took about two hours for Medstar to respond, provide some treatment and get him to Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, which is roughly 25 miles from his house. "It was like in the movies, the way the blood was coming out," he explains. The first sets of bandages and gauze applied to attempt to slow the blood loss were in vain, quickly turning the white, sterile material red. He says he had thoughts and feelings he never had and thought he was going to die.
"It took two surgeons and an excruciating amount of pain," he says, adding that he told the doctors about being a guitar player and inquiring about that future to which they were uncertain. Ultimately, he was transferred to Lakes Region General Hospital, where he was seen by one of the top hand doctors in New Hampshire. The damage to his hand also affected the ulnar nerve. Fischbein ended up out of work for eight months, the first two of which he says he barely remembers due to the pain killers that were required. Today he still has no feeling in part of his right hand. The ring finger and pinky, palm side, from the fingertips to his wrist provide no sensation.
"I spent six months without playing music," he recalls. "I suffered serious traumatic stress disorder," fearing he would never play guitar again. Finally, he underwent EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)therapy, "which helped big time" with his depression, stress disorder and nightmares reliving the accident. As for physical therapy, doctors explained that no specific therapy was needed since humans in general use their hands for everything, which would be inherent therapy. "I started playing when I could," Fischbein says, "but I dropped picks all the time." He says it took time before he could pinch his index finger and thumb together and maintain dexterity. "I play better now than ever," he exalts, "because of genuine appreciation of my talent and my life. I didn't know how much I took for granted. Every morning, I'm happy I woke up on the right side of the dirt."
His passion may be at a new height, but it has always been there. He took professional lessons for six years. Then, with a firm grasp of composition and theory, it was up to himself to get better, faster, more proficient. Fischbein says he took every music class at Kingswood Regional High School in Wolfeboro.
"I did independent studies. Modal scales and jazz composition," he recalls.
Buying equipment and computer software, he put together his own home studio, and began recording some early song-writing attempts. But he also used his knowledge and technology to give back to the Kingswood music department and the department's music director Bill Gibson. "I learned quickly while in school that arts and music departments are first to get cuts from the budget," Fischbein says. "After graduation (in 2000), I recorded the school's pop concerts (in 2003 and 2004) and produced them."
Students would sell the CDs with the money going directly to help fund the music department. "It raised $500 each year for two years," he says.

His fiscal awareness led him to taking continuing education financial and business courses. He owned his own financial services company when he was 23, and ran a heating and air conditioning company with his brother. Currently a sous chef at Garwoods in Wolfeboro, Fischbein's business savvy is now tackling the non-creative side of the music world, learning about how the music industry works, promotion, networking and such.

Ultimately, though, this lifelong Ossipee resident is humble and earnest. "I don't need to be famous. I just want a comfortable living with my guitar."
The album captures Fischbein's assorted styles and interests. It is all acoustic, and mostly recorded without overdubbing or needless editing. His songs range from country to acoustic pop to instrumentals that reflect his interest in guitar greats like the avant garde Michael Hedges and jazzy Pat Metheny.

Fischbein touts his playing live as the best part of being a musician. "I feed off the energy (of the audience). It's true," he says. "The album doesn't do the live show justice. I like to get the audience involved. I'm trying to be unique, well, different."
While the acoustic guitar is his main instrument, he will wield an electric guitar and he's learning how to play fiddle. On stage he also has some tech tools that allow him to "loop," which is recording notes, a strum, the audience and having it cycle to create a rhythmic foundation to which he can play melody, whip off a solo, or simply improvise. This is a technique, also known as live phrase sampling, used by many artists such as Howie Day and Keller Williams.
Along with his own material, Fischbein can perform songs from dozens of artists, whether it's Nelly — yes, Nelly — or The Beatles or Charlie Daniels.

Ash Fischbein's CD is available at Zeb's in North Conway as well as online at CDBaby and his niceash.net. It's also downloadable via digstation.com. People also keep clicking "play" on his songs at indie-music.com, where a few of his tunes have played enough to be listed on the site's top 10 list for adult contemporary.

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"Attendants of the Taste of the Bearcamp were treated to background music by Ash Fischbein, a former student of Nancy Coville's at The Bearcamp Valley School. The dining event was held on Sunday evening, March 18 at the Whittier House in West Ossipee. Food was donated by many local restaurants, and the Boy Scouts volunteered to serve food and clean up between seatings. This was Coville's 15th annual Taste of the Bearcamp."

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"Just a quick note to let you know the latest batch of Editor's Picks has been posted at Indie-Music.com, and you are among them! Thanks for sharing your talent with us!"..."Awesome acoustic guitar!"

Check it out...Editors Pick