Abby Krizner and Joe Zelek weren't looking to start another band. They were already friends, and both were navigating the endings of marriages and a band they had once shared. Then they moved across the hallway from one another.

A trip to Colorado changed something. They started sharing lyrics. Lyrics became melodies, melodies became songs, and before they quite knew what was happening, they had written a five-song EP in a matter of months.

Recorded largely inside their apartments, Ash & Gold's music carries the intimacy of two people who have spent a lot of time learning each other's rhythms, quirks and heartbeat. Their ethereal vocal harmonies and vulnerable songwriting live somewhere between Americana and indie, drawing inspiration from Tom Petty, Turnpike Troubadours and Buddy & Julie Miller.

Zelek, whose history includes Joe Zelek Band, The Gathering Field, and Rust Belt Kings, brings decades of experience as a songwriter, producer, and recording artist.

Krizner's roots in Pittsburgh's punk, metal, and rock scenes include Fist Fight In The Parking Lot, Tiny Wars, and Motorpsychos.

What began as friendship, shared upheaval, and a few inspired lyrics became something neither of them planned. Whatever happened between those first lyrics and the finished songs, Ash & Gold sounds like two people who found something worth holding onto.