Ashley Fulton’s “Carry Me” Named August “Best Song Of The Month”

Ashley Fulton, a pop/soul singer/songwriter based in Cleveland, Ohio, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The Month” Contest for August, for her song “Carry Me.” Fulton, who is just 16 years old, impressively wrote and produced this song by herself and played all the instruments on this recording.

“Carry Me” is a contemporary pop ballad which showcases Fulton’s soulful, expressive vocals, her piano playing and her skillful production. The song starts off with just piano and vocals, and then becomes a vibrant, full production (with drums, keyboards and strings) from the second verse on. In particular, the choruses have a big sound, and features Fulton’s wide-ranging lead vocals and her background harmony vocals. This recording was skillfully produced by Fulton at her home studio which utilizes Logic Pro software.

Fulton got started with music at a young age. When she was seven, she took classical piano lessons for awhile, although she later taught herself to play piano and keyboards. Notably, when she was 11, her father (who’s a drummer) introduced her to studio recording with a GarageBand setup, and when she was 14, she began using Logic Pro. She has been inspired by listening to such favorite artists as Alessia Cara, Adele and Rihanna.

Currently in high school (she’ll be starting 11^th grade this fall), Fulton has already developed her songwriting craft by attending songwriting workshops hosted by Berklee College of Music in Boston, and New York University (NYU). Last year, she wrote “Carry Me” during a session at Berklee, and then she finished production of the song at her home studio in Cleveland. She also just completed her songwriting camp at NYU. Fulton said, “I learned a lot at the NYU workshop, where I co-wrote with songwriters and artists from around the world.”

Fulton’s song “Carry Me” has been receiving good feedback and other honors. The song led to her being selected the grand prize winner of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Jabberwock talent competition. She also won national and local awards for music composition from the NAACP’s ACT-SO (Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological & Scientific Olympics).

Fulton enjoys writing songs for herself as an artist, but she would also like to write songs for other artists. And besides writing and producing her songs, Fulton is developing her skills as a live performer. She said, “I’ve been playing locally in Cleveland, and I’m looking forward to a show later this month (August) where I’ll be playing 20 songs with a full band.”