Chrisette Michele Introduces Protege, Ashleigh Smith, At Private Showcase [VIDEO]

Chrisette Michele has given her stamp of approval to an up and coming artist, Ashleigh Smith. Turns out, Ashleigh isn’t new to the music game and has been under Chrisette’s wing for quite some time, as her background singer.

Recently, Chrisette — who we hear has signed up for another season of TV One’s R&B Divas LA — hosted an uber private musical showcase to introduce the media, tastemakers and music junkies to Ashleigh. Held at LA’s Bootleg Theater, Ashleigh and Chrisette gave attendees a soulful earful, with a live band including violinists and some other fancy strings.

Before hopping on stage with Ashleigh, theJasmineBRAND.com chatted with Chrisette exclusively about her motive for the showcase.

Today, was kinda a no pressure vibe….Today is almost like a dress rehearsal for the tour….It’s more for the influencers like yourself and the people who kinda help create culture. I kinda want them to get an idea of what I’m thinking because then I know whose gonna support me. One of the scariest things for me, when I’m putting out something new, is for all the cool people understand what I mean.