這是鄉村音樂界苦等多年，足以「漫步雲端」的「新聲音」嗎？
美國鄉村榜六月傳出新紀錄，12歲的麻薩諸塞州春田〈Springfield〉城少女艾許莉〈Ashley Gearing〉以〈Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You？〉創下史上鄉村榜「最年輕女歌手」紀錄，改寫了布蘭達李〈Brenda Lee〉在1957年四月以單曲〈One Step At A Time〉保持46年的紀錄，當年小布同樣12歲，但已經接近13歲了，之後不論1972年Tanya Tucker初登場的〈Delta Dawn〉或是1996年黎安萊姆絲的〈Blue〉都已經是她們13、14歲的事情，這個紀錄無疑讓艾許莉一出道便深受各界注意。
誠如黎安當年〈Blue〉被後的感人故事〈歌曲原是作者要寫給一代鄉村天后Patsy Cline〉，艾許莉進軍歌壇的〈Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You？〉則更具個人色彩，這是艾許莉獻給已逝父親David Gearing的心情歌曲，自然的唱腔流瀉的款款思念深情，果然造成催淚轟動，最後小艾還感性地說了一句「I Miss You Daddy」，其實，艾許莉對她的生父非常陌生，因為艾許莉的爹早在她出生後十個月大就因腦瘤撒手人寰，「我對他的記憶很少，但我仍帶著一種究竟父親是怎麼樣的心情來詮釋歌曲」，歌曲由Jimmy Harnen和Rick Manwiller〈兩人組的樂團Synch〉合寫，創作背景來自Jimmy的父親逝世，寫下有感而發的心情，而Jimmy現在是艾許莉新專輯的製作協力，他正是DreamWorks鄉村部的宣傳總監哩。
歌曲是已經在家鄉和全美一半店台播放後，艾許莉才真正簽下唱片合約，據USA Today七月音樂專欄對艾許莉大篇幅的報導指出，有五家鄉村廠牌角逐簽下艾許莉，最終Lyric Street Records〈隸屬迪士尼，環球發行〉勝出；Billboard鄉村榜總監Wade Jessen對此事件大感不可思議，他以「前所未見」來形容一首demo對排行榜造成的衝擊，姑且不論歌曲最後的成績如何，對艾許莉來說，她「以父之名」的初登場已成功跨出第一步，除了Boston Globe星期日特刊以半版報導艾許莉外，九月二日的美國網球公開賽決賽，艾許莉更將現場演美國國歌，在這些光環之前，艾許莉只有在電台做宣傳，唯一的大型曝光是今年鄉村界的Fan Fair。〈Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You？〉於電台播送後，許多電台紛紛接獲大量迴響，有些聽友表示，歌曲讓他們想到失去的親人和感情，更甚者還要求能在告別典禮上播放歌曲。
艾許莉的官方網站有她在成長過程裡學習音樂和歌唱的種種描述，她最大的心願是希望聽她唱歌的人們就像她一樣能感到快樂，而要是能在麥迪遜廣場有一場票都賣光光的個唱，那真是太好了！這位外型清秀甜美、帶有慧黠氣質的長髮少女目前是春田Our Lady of Hope School的學生，官方網站已經可以試聽多首新歌和一首名為〈Rush〉的演唱畫面，美國版單曲則收錄了由Richard Marx和創作夥伴Fee Waybill合作的〈I'm The Girl〉都推薦給大家。
由於我也加入小艾的mailing list，竟然意外收到她寫的信，她先感謝我留資料，又問我怎麼聽到她的歌；之後我回答後，又收到她的來信，姑且不論是否來信的真是她本人，但用心是可以感受的到喔！最後補充一下，這首歌讓我想到Selena的〈Dreaming Of You〉，有一些唱腔和意境，不管怎說，我愛上了這個「新聲音」。
【艾許莉給裘弟的信內容如下】
Jordy, Thank you so much for your note and words of encouragement. I really appreciate your thoughts. Please have your friends keep calling country radio and request this song. The album is now scheduled out late fall as I just finished the last 3 songs. Hope you enjoy it when you hear it. Ashley Gearing
〈Can You Hear Me When I Talk To You？〉歌詞
Time passes by so quickly,
But I guess I thought you'd be here forever.
I never even had the chance,
To say goodbye.
There's so many things to tell you,
Left unsaid until now.
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
Do the words I say ever make it through?
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew.
Ev'ry night, I have the same dream.
The one where you get to hold me.
We laugh an' talk until the morning,
An' then you vanish, yeah.
It always leaves me feeling helpless,
When I wake up an' you're not there.
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
Do you know how much I'd love to be with you?
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew.
(Instrumental break)
Living in this world without you,
I constantly search through my mem'ries.
Hoping that I find some treasures,
That I passed over, yeah.
All that I took for granted,
Means so much now, an' I won't let it go.
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I never said some things that I meant to.
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew.
You know, I never said some things that I meant to.
Can you hear me when I talk to you?
'Cause I'd give anything if I just knew.
I miss you Daddy.
艾許莉官方網站：
http://www.ashleygearing.com/
