About

Ashley Beckford is a worship leader and songwriter from Southern California. Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, she played a plethora of sports and sang in her church and school choirs while growing up. Ashley picked up the guitar in high school and later studied classical guitar from Michael Ryan at the University of La Verne. Also in high school, Ashley began to experiment with songwriting. Soon she was writing music for her folk-inspired coffee shop performances as well as dabbling in writing worship music. Ashley had always been a part of her church’s worship team and choir growing up, but she didn’t start leading worship until she was in college. She began serving as a volunteer at Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) in San Dimas, California, and God opened many doors for her to take more of a leadership role at the church. After interning at the church for two years, she was hired full-time as a weekend worship leader. Ashley has been working at CCV since 2009 and loves every bit of it! She says, “Ironically, worship leading was the last place I thought I would be. I studied business and played basketball in college… obviously God had other plans. But I could not ask for a more perfect or fulfilling profession.”

Since working at CCV, Ashley has been a part of several original worship recording projects with the church’s songwriting community, Valley Worship. Paired with vocal coaching through the years from Amy Gillette, Mary Durst, and Jennifer Wilcove, Ashley has added a pure and commanding vocal quality to the recordings. In addition, she has been an integral part of the writing process. Her songs are not only reaching the congregation of CCV, but are beginning to spread across the country and world. “We Cry Holy”, off the latest Valley Worship album, is being played in several churches across the United States and the song is currently being recorded on another church project in Tennessee.

Ashley’s worship songs are not only catchy and sing-able, but are inspired by much prayer and the Word of God. On her latest album, Heart After You, each song was specifically inspired by a passage of scripture. Ashley says, “I wanted a fresh take on the Word of God through creating original melodies and lyrics inspired by scripture.” Heart After You is Ashley’s first solo worship album. “I didn’t ever feel called to do my own album until this last year. It was a very specific call from God. Initially, I argued for a bit because I was comfortable where I was, but again, God had other plans. He has been faithful through this journey, and I see God’s footprint through the entire project, and that is so exciting to me!” In 2012, Ashley traveled to Africa to lead worship at several women’s conferences using her music to bless the women in Zimbabwe and South Africa. She has also had the opportunity to lead worship at several conferences, including the Passion and Ignite Conferences. When not traveling, you will find Ashley leading worship at her home church, CCV, or spending time with her husband, Lance, and her dog, Oreo.