Hailing from Miami and now located in Nashville, Tennessee, Blue Ashes are a duo made up of Danish singer Shila Mariposa Zuniga & her husband Alexis Zuniga from Colombia. They released their debut EP ‘Walking Solo’ in April last year and came out firing on all cylinders!
Sounding like a five-piece hard rock outfit, this duo will grab your attention from the first guitar solo on the album’s title track ‘Checkmate’, which is the opening song off this debut full length album. With songs like ‘I Don’t Care’, which featured on the EP, ‘I’ll Get It’ & ‘No One Left Behind’, Blue Ashes have a no-nonsense approach to creating hard rock and have the most fun writing over a glass of wine or two.
Shila’s powerhouse rock vocals are a perfect combination to Alexis’ shredding guitar solos. Between the two of them they are a force to be reckoned with and with a tone similar to that of Australian band Echo Del Tusker’s frontwoman Estelle Artois; Shila has a vocal range to rival the best. The two met online and built a strong bond, fell in love & started making music together.
Love is evident, especially on ‘Fire of Madness’, which was written about their love for each other in the early days (they are now married & proud parents) and still very much in love, I might add. A highlight of mine on the album, ‘I Don’t Care’ was written about not caring what people thought when Shila wanted to stay in the US but was being urged to return to her home country of Denmark but also about immigration as a whole in the US. Alexis’ guitar work on this track is absolutely incredible! I was most impressed with this solid release and will be looking forward to what’s in store for this hard hitting duo in the future.
‘Checkmate’ was released on Jan 30 and is available on all major streaming platforms.
https://www.facebook.com/blueashesmusic/
