Ash Fischbein started playing guitar at the age of 8 when his parents bought him a $40.00 Harmony acoustic guitar. Falling in love with this instrument, plastic strings and all, he began his journey. He had about 6 years of professional lessons and in high school became active in the Music Dept. taking every music course available. And then he went out on his own. But as any musician knows, the road is a rough one. One evening in January 2005, Ash severely injured his right hand; a freak accident, but one that left him with major nerve damage. Even after surgery and rehabilitation, it was doubtful he would play again. But after more than a year of recovery and determination, dropping many guitar picks along the way, he was able to scale the walls of disability and once again able to perform-better than ever. Playing at benefits, private parties, weddings, many local bars and clubs, headlining and/or just doing open mic nights, he felt blessed to be playing again.
A life changing event, Ash’s music composition and guitar playing has become more creative and adventurous using alternative tuning and tapping. His instrumentals are described as “making a guitar sing”. Over the years his main influences have been Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Phish, Keller Williams, Bela Fleck, Michael Hedges and Les Claypool to name a few.
In April of 2007, Ash released his debut CD "Daydream" under the pseudonym "Nice Ash" ("ASH" was already trademarked).
"...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...." --Bill Huffman-The Conway Daily Sun
Nice Ash was chosen as a featured artist on 100.3 WHEB's "Local Licks with J.R." radio program in late April, having selected songs from his CD played for all of Maine, Mass., Vermont and NH to hear.
Just recently he has become a member of the Maine Songwriters Association out of Portland, Maine.
He has opened up for, and/or shared the stage with such headliners as Jonathan Edwards, Anais Mitchell, David Jacobs-Strain, Dave Crossland, Joel Cage, Carrie Cheron, Northern Lights, The Barra MacNeils, Mike Morris, Erik Balkey, The Don Campbell Band, Amy Dalley, Kristy Jackson, Tom Dean, Chuck Nash, Amanda Williams and Ricky and the Giants.
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