We've all been there. That insatiable desire to tell something to someone, but it's tangled with the fear that once you do, everything will change. Or maybe there's that undying need to say something, but the minute it comes out you wish you could take it back. Leah Ashton’s newest project, “Things Better Left Unsaid”, contains five songs that are about just that. Leah uses these songs as a way to express what things that are too hard to simply come out and say, and instead of telling her listeners these things, she sings them with a voice that doesn’t sound like it’s coming from a white girl from the suburbs.

Leah, who has been singing since she could talk and playing piano since age 8, got her start performing in church. As she began to develop as an artist, she moved on to playing in coffee shops, clubs, and other venues around her hometown, the Akron area of Ohio. Coming from a musical family, her early influences range from the styles of jazz, blues, soul, hymns, classic rock, and Disney musicals. In 2005, Leah headed to Indiana in pursuit of a Music Business degree from Anderson University. During her time as a student there she started writing original material, which she performed in various venues around central Indiana. Her honest lyrics sung with a soulful voice gave her enough attention to be offered a deal with Orangehaus Records, under whom she released a self-titled EP in December of 2007. With Orangehaus she also released two singles: her own version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and an original song “After the Rain”. During her time as an Orangehaus artist she continued to play shows in venues across Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, as well as breaking into cities such as Chicago and Nashville.

Since graduating from Anderson University in 2009, Leah has continued to pursue her passion for music by writing and recording what turned into another 5 song EP that she released independently in April of 2010. With this new collection of songs, Leah feels that she can give her audience a more accurate representation of where she currently is as a songwriter and musician. She hopes that the listeners who have been following her for the past few years can hear the growth and development in her musicianship, and that new listeners enjoy the new songs enough to want to come along for the ride. “I'm fortunate enough to use music and song as my outlet for those 'things better left unsaid'”, Leah says, “If nothing else, maybe someone will hear one of my songs and be given a tiny bit of courage to say what it is that they need to say”. There is much to be seen in Leah’s future and you’re sure to hear more from her in the coming years. Stay tuned in for the fun.