The Walnut Room

Ashley Raines

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Ashley Raines grew up in the Midwest and began running away from home almost as early as he could walk. By the age of fourteen he was hitchhiking from his home in Kansas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He hopped boxcars and squeezed out a small living by publishing his poetry in college literary magazines. He taught himself any instrument he could get his hands on, recorded his songs on four-track reel-to-reel machines, which he sold while performing on the street and occasionally picked up work as a farm hand. In 1997 Raines, who had then only given his music on street corners and during coffee shop open mics, signed to Howlin’ Dog Records. In 2000 Raines signed to The Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC). Raines has released six albums. His most recent, 2008’s “The Halcyon Birds”, features Lisa Show, J. Ford Hester and Edward R. Thornton.