15 Things You Should Know About Our New Host on Z100: Meet Ashley

You may have heard me in the mornings with Chris Wolfe recently. If not, hi! I'm the new cohost of The Chris and Ashley Show.

So who am I? Do we know each other? Maybe--and if not, I'd love to get to know you. But to start, here's a little about me as an icebreaker.

I went to every school in Missoula named "Hellgate."

Yep, Hellgate Elementary, Hellgate Middle School, and then I transferred to Hellgate High School. Why? Because I'm a band nerd at heart and I wanted to study under John Combs. It made a difference--see what happened next.

I went to college on a music scholarship. (Always giving 100.1% 😉)

Playing clarinet in college turned out to be a pretty rad side hustle. But after I played "Pomp and Circumstance" at my college graduation, I was ready to put the instrument down for a long time. Who knows, maybe I'll pull it out again for another summer with the Missoula City Band.

I was a dancer for 13 years.

Ballet, tap, jazz, modern--I even had the honor of touring in Austria with the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre.

I'm a fifth-generation Montanan, (but technically, I was born in Oregon).

Mom and dad met in college at OSU. I started first grade in Missoula. But who remembers anything from before Kindergarten anyway, right? Go Griz!

I moved back to Missoula in 2021.

After high school, I moved away. I lived in Minnesota, then Maine, then I spent the last ten years in Billings. I'd come home to visit family, but that was it. It was definitely a challenge moving back to Missoula at the height of its popularity, but I'm so glad to be back. It's WILD how much this town has changed. I keep telling people, "Yes, everyone, feels like their hometown is different when they go back, but does every hometown change the streets while you're away?!" So, if someone can explain to me how I get through malfunction junction now, I'd appreciate it. :-)

I'm a published writer and poet, and I co-founded a literary organization.

Yes, I'm a band nerd, but I was also that kid that wrote stories and "published" them myself with a stapler. I got an MFA in creative writing and started the Billings Area Literary Arts with a friend to create writing opportunities for the Billings community. We hosted "Write-Ins" and the event "A Reading of Their Own." Music is the universal language, yes, but my time as a writer has shown me in myriad ways how much words matter.

I don't have kids.

I have taught a lot of kids, though. I taught 3rd-5th graders as part of a Poetry in the Schools program. I tutored high school students and helped them prepare for the ACTs/SATs. I taught creative writing in a juvenile detention center, too. There were also five years where I taught writing at Montana State University-Billings and a semester at Rocky Mountain College.

I love my rescue dogs.

Meet Nova the rescue greyhound, and Buddy, from Rez Dog Rescue of Montana.

My husband and I got married in the basement of the Old Post.

What can I say? It was dope.

I've had 5 concussions.

My parents were bookbinders.

Yes, it is as rad as it sounds. Yes, I credit this early childhood experience with my love of books.

I've been mistaken for a movie star. Twice.

Take the humble brags where you can get them.

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles.

I never expected to be DJ.

While I may have come up with my first tagline when I was four (it was for the bookbindery--"We can fix your books as good as your dog can chew them!" Not bad for a four-year-old, I'd say) and started recording radio commercials when I was nine, being a DJ was kinda something I fell into. I started with Townsquare Media as an Editor and voiced things on an as-needed basis (i.e. "Hey, we need someone to do the voicework on these sex shop ads"). When the-people-who-decide-these-things offered me the chance at cohosting mornings on Z100 with Chris Wolfe I jumped at the chance. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

I didn't know I was a morning person until I got the gig.

I can't think of a better way to start my day and my favorite part so far is talking to listeners. So don't be afraid to call or message the show.