Ashton Shepherd photo courtesy of MCA Nashville.

As a child, she sang classic country tunes at local fairs, benefit shows and community events. When she was 14, her older brothers urged her to take up the guitar.

"A pinch before I turned 15, I started playing. When I picked up the guitar, the songs just started pouring out, just one after the other."

When she was 15, her parents funded an album recorded at Alabama group member Jeff Cook's studio in Ft. Payne, Alabama. Her mother took the cover photo.

"We had the minimum of 1,000 copies made of that CD," Ashton recalls. "I sang so many places where people said, 'Oh, we'd love to have a CD. Do you have something?' So we did that so people could have something of mine. We would sell them for $10 or whatever."

"There were maybe four or five local bars in our area that we played," says Ashton. "The audiences always loved the original songs. One of their favorites was 'Not Right Now,' because the women dig the not-settling-down thing."

"The local playing was great but I wanted a career. I wanted to put my music out there. But we didn't know what to do. I used to talk to my husband about it. I would get depressed, because I felt like the good Lord had given me this talent, but I wasn't doing anything with it. Then one day all of this just happened."

In June 2006, she entered and won a talent contest in Gilbertown, Alabama. The prize was being the opening act for Lorrie Morgan in concert. A Nashville record producer heard Ashton, asked for a copy of her CD and invited her to come to Nashville to record some of her tunes. She arrived in Music City on August 29, 2006.

Aware that she would need an attorney to deal with the Nashville music business, she telephoned an office she located on the Internet. The woman on the other end of the phone was kind and helpful. She was also connected, since she worked for the legendary producer and guitarist Jerry Kennedy. This led to meeting Jerry's son Shelby Kennedy, who brought Ashton Shepherd to MCA. Less than a year from the date she arrived in Music City, Sounds So Good was completed with producer Buddy Cannon (Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, etc.).

"Everybody has said they've never seen anything happen like this," says the honky-tonk Cinderella. "I can't wait to meet people and for people to meet me. I hope everybody connects with my music as well as Nashville has. I think they will. I think people will feel the realness in my songs. I've always dreamed of this ride I'm about to take. I feel as blessed as I've ever felt in my life."