Ashley Campbell and famous dad, Glen Campbell, to perform Saturday at Luhrs

Ashley Campbell just calls him dad.


But to millions, Glen Campbell has been called musical genius, Beach Boy, TV variety host and occasional actor.

Ashley Campbell, 25, the daughter of Glen Campbell and his fourth wife, Kimberly, has been sharing the stage with her famous father as well as her older brothers Cal and Shannon in what can only be called a bittersweet tour.  

Glen Campbell, 76, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011.

The Campbell clan will make a stop on their father's "The Goodbye Tour" Saturday, Oct. 27, at the H. Ric Luhrs Center Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University.

Ashley was at a friend's home in Santa Monica, Calif., when she took time from the tour for a telephone chat about her early pursuit of comedy, the banjo, music, her famous father and finding her own musical way with her and Shannon's band, Victoria Ghost.



When did you realize that you also had a musical gift?

Well, I've known that I was good at playing music and I liked to play music. We started playing piano, all of us, since we could sit on a stool pretty much. My brother played drums. I was always pretty good at piano and just liked playing music. Then we started taking guitar lessons in high school. It has always been there. But I didn't start getting serious about it until 2008, actually.



Why acting/comedy first, not music?

Well, because it's one of my passions as well, but I just didn't really know what I could do with music until I started playing the banjo in 2008, and that kind of changed my perspective a little bit. I loved comedy and I always wanted to be on "SNL" one day. So I was doing a lot of improv and it was so much fun, but then I started touring and playing music and that was fun, too. (She laughed.)



Why did you pick up the banjo in 2008?

Well, I was cast in a play at Pepperdine University and we were going to performing in Edinburgh, Scotland. They needed someone to learn how to play the banjo for that show, so I volunteered. And they paid for me to have lessons and got me a banjo, and that was that.



What is it about that instrument, though?

I don't know, I just kind of connected with it. I always loved the way it sounds and loves music that uses banjo. And I kind of fell in love with bluegrass at that time because I didn't really listen to it before I started playing banjo, and once I did — l loved everything about it.



You were asked to play banjo on "Gentle on My Mind," is that how you got to be part of the tour?

Yes. I was originally tagging along on the Australia trip in 2009 just for fun because I had just graduated college. I thought it would be fun just to go on tour and I had never been over there. And they ended up talking me into playing for the show.



How has it been playing with your dad onstage and touring with him? I would think that you get to see a different side of him.

Yeah, it's been some of the best times of my life. It's really great to see him do what he does best in front of an audience that he has affected their whole lives. It's really cool to see the influence he's had on people's lives and to see him still influencing people's lives with his amazing musicianship.



Was there a point in your life that you realized your dad was a famous musician?