Ashwin Sood, as you may already know, is Sarah McLachlan's husband and the drummer in her band. 'Ash' is a fine musician who plays many types of drums, sings back-up vocals, and even plays the piano on the instrumental song 'Last Dance' on Ms. McLachlan's album 'Surfacing'.



Though originally from Birmingham, England, Ashwin Sood grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and has been playing the drums since he was seven years old. "My dad took me to see Count Basie, and after seeing that concert, I basically wanted to be a drummer, " Ash said. Ash Sood played in various bands all through elementary school and high school. His first professional gig was with the band Lava Hay.



The liner notes from Sarah McLachlan's 1992 "Live" album have little biographies of all the touring band members, written by keyboard player Dave Kershaw. Here is the one about Ash:

"When Ash was a young boy and used to skip dinner to run downstairs and play his drum set along to Donna Summer albums, it was safe to assume he would grow up to be a drummer. He has two loves: playing drums and drumming (although, he is a cohort with Dave in the search for the perfect chocolate milkshake and rumor has it they have some chocolate shakin' of their own!).



Ash is a very meticulous person and strives for perfection, especially rhythmically. He is a graduate from the Percussion Institute of Technology and has been playing steadily ever since. He first met Sarah while on tour with Lava Hay. He now moves between touring with Sarah and playing with Mae Moore (live and on record). He is a busy man. We don't know if P.I.T. prepared him to play exclusively with women but Donna Summer must have."

During high school, Ashwin Sood was in a band called Banood. This band was comprised of eight members, with Ash playing drums. For music school, Ash Sood attended California's Musicians Institute.



Ashwin Sood's first professional gig was with a band called Lava Hay. It was during his time with Lava Hay that he was discovered by Sarah McLachlan, who asked him to play a few tracks on her album 'Solace'.



Ashwin Sood joined Sarah McLachlan's band in the early '90s after she noticed him in the band Lava Hay, which was under the same label as Ms. McLachlan: Nettwerk Records. She invited him to play on some of the tracks on her next album, thus Mr. Sood appears on one song, 'I Will Not Forget You', on Sarah McLachlan's 1991 album 'Solace'.



Ashwin Sood joined Ms. McLachlan's band soon after and toured with them for the Solace tour. He has been her drummer ever since. Mr. Sood says:

"I met Sarah through Lava Hay because they were managed by Sarah's manager, Terry McBride. At that time Sarah was finishing up recording Solace. She asked me to play on a couple of tracks and then asked me to join the band. We then started with the Solace tour."

Ashwin Sood has also played drums on 1994's 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy', 1997's 'Surfacing' and 1999's live album 'Mirrorball'.



Ashwin Sood played drums on one song on a benefit CD made by THE FOX 99.3. Mr. Sood appears on a cover of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince's song 1999. To hear a clip of the song, visit the Multimedia section. Brian Minato and Vince Jones (who play with Ash in Sarah McLachlan's band) were also involved with the project. The profits from the CD benefit THE FOX BC's Children's Hospital Fund and cost $9.93 Canadian. You can purchase the CD from AB Sound.



Ash played the drums on the Wild Strawberries' 1995 album "Heroine" and their 1998 album "Quiver".



Mr. Sood was an executive producer of both Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the Lilith Fair CD set. The set features live Lilith Fair performances by a variety of artists including Heather Nova, Sixpence None the Richer, Natalie Merchant, Queen Latifah, Liz Phair, Bonnie Raitt, the Indigo Girls, and, of course, Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan.



(main source: Natalie Lockwood's First Ashwin Sood Site on the Web)