Along with fronting the Gris Gris and operating the Creamery recording studio, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Greg Ashley also performs as a solo artist, concentrating on the delicately trippy psych-folk that occasionally makes its way into his band's louder, more unpredictable music. Late in 2003, Birdman released his debut album, Medicine F**k Dream, which drew comparisons to Mayo Thompson and Roky Erickson. Ashley's second solo album, Painted Garden, arrived early in 2007, and though it had considerably cleaner production than his debut, it shared the same free-flowing songwriting and surreal lyrics. In 2010 he dropped the completely experimental Requiem Mass & Other Experiments on Birdman. The opening title track (a whole side of a conventional LP) is the preeminent work here, while the rest features a series of smaller musical and sonic adventures. In 2014, Ashley returned with his first album for Trouble in Mind, the comparatively modest and low-key set Another Generation of Slaves. Trouble in Mind also released Ashley's 2017 effort Pictures of Saint Paul Street, a melodic, low-key, and often personal set of songs. ~ Heather Phares