Heidie Fifield is a singer/songwriter, and recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago.  She has had the pleasure of working with several highly acclaimed musicians including Grammy Award winning singer/songwriters Paula Cole and Jim Lauderdale, multi-talented singer/songwriter and guitarist Charlie Sexton, and the world renowned Todd Rundgren.  She currently works as a lead vocalist in one of Chicago’s top cover bands, Shout Out, and has just released her very first single, “No Love Like Our Love”, off her forthcoming debut EP, currently available on iTunes.  

Brought up under the influence of a cappella music, Ashley Otis grew up with the advantage of hearing and experiencing music in a way that increased her intuition for harmony, melody, tone quality, vocal blend and song composition. Quickly developing a naturally trained ear nearly as fast as she could learn to speak complete sentences, Ashley was able to discern and maintain harmonic and melodic structures at a very early age.

Originally from the eastside of Detroit, Michigan, Ashley likes to pay homage not only to her a cappella upbringing but also to her hometown and the music it had awaiting her discovery as a child. Having grown up on the birthing grounds of Motown Records, it didn’t take long for the legendary sounds of artists and groups including, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes and Michael Jackson to engrave its musical timelessness in the development of her love for contemporary, urban and popular music.

Since relocating to Chicago to study music at Columbia College, Ashley has performed and worked with industry legends and World-renowned musicians, Todd Rundgren, Charlie Sexton, Jim Lauderdale, Nicholas Tremulis and Bernard Purdie.

In the spring of 2011, Ashley was asked to sing backup vocals for Chicago Independent Music Awards nominee, Justin Ruff, and during that time discovered a huge passion for professional background singing. Now having also sung for artists including Mark Hubbard and The Voices, “Colum Alums”, Alma Cook and Sam Trump, and most recently Chicago singer/songwriter, Erthe St. James, Ashley has performed in Chicago’s Gospel Music Festival, sang for Stellar Award winner, Byron Cage, and has opened shows for award winning artists, Ryan Leslie and Estelle.

Later that year, Ashley joined all female band, SHE. A band of 7 eccentrically hip queens heavily inspired by artists including Bob Marley, Erykah Badu, Little Dragon, Sun Ra and Janelle Monae, SHE has played in several Chicago venues including The Shrine, Abbey Pub, Reggie’s Music Joint, The Red Kiva, Double Door, Schubas Tavern and The Metro and has opened for Eric Roberson, L’Renee, M&O, Rahsaan Patterson, Jean Deaux, Jean Grae and Vic Mensa.

Now a little over three years later with a Bachelors of Music degree in Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music, Ashley works as a session singer and has recorded for artists including Chicago-based guitarist, Joe Moss, and Chicago singer, Joey Locascio. She is also performing as a lead vocalist in Chicago cover band, Blue Water Kings, and is currently working on the release of a solo project.