After decades of writing and performing folk songs across Northeast Ohio, singer-songwriter Ashley Brooke Toussant found an unexpected new source of inspiration: elementary school classrooms.
Since the early 2000s, Toussant has been known for her distinct, delicate and tender folk songs.
Her path into music started in her hometown, Canton, and continued when she attended Kent State University in the early 2000s.
While in college, she landed a job at WKSU. As a fan of folk music, she was especially excited to meet now-retired Folk Alley Host Jim Blum.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業'm a big fan of Alison Krauss,鈥� and [Jim鈥檚] like, I gave her her first gig in Ohio,鈥� Toussant said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃hat?鈥� The whole time I'm screaming inside. I'm like, 鈥楾his is gonna be the best place ever.鈥欌��
Toussant was just beginning to write her own songs.
Her parents had given her a guitar when she was 19, and she realized that learning a few chords could open the door to songwriting.
She credits Doris Day as a major inspiration for her sound, which embodies sweet love songs of the 1950s and 鈥�60s with quiet strumming and gentle melodies.
Toussant started performing at an open mic night in Canton, where the encouragement she received gave her a new direction for her future.
鈥淚 wrote some songs and shared them, and the feedback was really kind,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥極K, this is what I'm doing.鈥欌��
Soon after, her parents gifted her an hour of recording studio time. She recorded her first song, 鈥淲allflower,鈥� and shared it with Blum.
鈥淣ext day, I come back to work and everybody in the building is like, 鈥業 didn't know you sang!鈥� They all had heard it because Jim shared it with everybody. He played it on the radio,鈥� Toussant said.
Chasing songs beyond Northeast Ohio
After graduating from Kent State, Toussant moved to Chicago to pursue music more seriously.
She worked mornings at Starbucks and spent her evenings attending open mics across the city.
It was there that another musician encouraged her to step out of the background.
鈥淗e said, 鈥業 really enjoy your voice, and I have a friend who is a producer. And I feel like he'd really be into your sound too,鈥欌�� Toussant said.
That introduction led her to producer Jim Tulio, who recorded her first professional release, a called 鈥淎ll Songs in English,鈥� a nod to her last name.
鈥淚 called it that because ever since I can remember, I'd say, 鈥楢shley, Ashley Toussant,鈥� and then some people try to talk French to me. And I've never, unfortunately, known the language.鈥�
Her time in Chicago helped her grow as a performer, but the path soon shifted.
During the 2008 recession, Toussant and her now-husband moved back to Kent after he lost his job.
The move didn鈥檛 slow her music career, but it did coincide with another life change: Becoming a mother.
鈥淚've always wanted to be a professional singer, but I always wanted to be mom, maybe more so,鈥� she said.
She continued writing and recording, eventually releasing another EP, 鈥淲ith Regards to You,鈥� after her oldest child was born.
鈥淚've learned that songwriting is so much more than a love song or a sad song."Ashley Brooke Toussant
Motherhood began to shift her priorities.
鈥淚 always had this dream of like being on the road and having little babies,鈥� Toussant said. 鈥淥nce I had kids, I was just like super into that.鈥�
Instead of focusing on late-night open mic nights or bar gigs, she began seeking out family-friendly performance spaces like festivals.
Over time, she also let go of the pressure to chase a 鈥渂ig break.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like there was a time where I was like, 鈥楾he next gig's gonna be the one that's where I鈥檒l be discovered,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淚 feel the last maybe like 10 years I've thought, 鈥極h yeah, actually, my journey's been pretty wonderful.鈥欌��
Turning classroom lessons into lyrics
Even as she continued performing, songwriting became harder to sustain as she focused on raising three young children in her growing family.
鈥淚 was feeling not the best because I wasn't really producing anything new,鈥� she said.
After settling in Cleveland Heights with her husband, Toussant tried to balance motherhood with performing and songwriting.
鈥淚 was, like, really trying to get into some kind of writing routine again and giving myself word prompts,鈥� she said.
In 2019, a small moment at her son鈥檚 school sparked a new idea.
His kindergarten teacher had noticed the link to Toussant鈥檚 music website in her email signature and invited her to perform for the class.
鈥淎ll of a sudden, I had this idea. I told the teacher, 鈥榃hat if you ask the kids for five words for me? And I'll write a song with those words,鈥欌�� Toussant said. 鈥淭hey picked a theme of springtime and picked words like 鈥榖utterfly,鈥� 鈥榯rees,鈥� 鈥榖ird.鈥欌��
She returned a week later with a song, reminding the students that the words she sang were chosen from their suggestions.
She said the children gasped, and that reaction stuck with her.
As her other children started school, Toussant kept returning to classrooms with the same collaborative idea of letting students help generate the building blocks for songs.
鈥淚 was so pumped up from this idea of writing for the kids that the pressure of writing a song suddenly melted away,鈥� she said.
Teachers began inviting her into more classrooms. Many of the songs she wrote grew out of lessons students were already studying.
One first-grade class, for example, was learning about time. That sparked an idea that became the 鈥淐alendar Song.鈥�
Toussant also began collaborating with her neighborhood library in Cleveland Heights, writing songs inspired by children鈥檚 books.
One of them, 鈥淏at Night at the Library,鈥� imagines bats sneaking into a library after dark.
鈥淏ats sneak into a library once a year 鈥� and they showcase all the things that are wonderful in a library - story time, using the copying machine,鈥� she said.
The children鈥檚 songs started adding up.
Toussant has recorded 12 of them and is now releasing them individually before compiling them into a full children鈥檚 album, 鈥淪ing About Everything.鈥�
The full album is expected later this year with a release show planned for Oct. 3 at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland.
鈥淚've learned that songwriting is so much more than a love song or a sad song,鈥� she said.
The project has also opened another unexpected path in her career.
For the past two years, Toussant has been teaching songwriting classes for elementary students in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district, guiding young writers as they experiment with lyrics, ideas and creative storytelling.
And while the children鈥檚 songs have opened an exciting new chapter, Toussant said the process has also brought her back to writing music for adults again.
鈥淚 feel like I'm doing it exactly the way I want to, and I feel really proud of it,鈥� she said.
