Lady Tambourine

Rosalie Marie Ashton-Washington (born 1957), known as Lady Tambourine, is an American gospel musician from Louisiana, known for her skill at the tambourine.

Washington enjoys impromptu tambourine performances with gospel and zydeco groups, seeking out collaborations and invitations at live shows to join whoever is on stage. She hits the tambourine with her hands, elbows and knees so enthusiastically that she is in the habit of breaking her tambourines, and must carry spares. Funk bandleader Charmaine Neville says that Washington joins her on stage occasionally, "beating the hell out of the tambourine."

Early life Washington was born in Denham Springs, Louisiana, in 1957. She said later, "It took me years to realize that I had received the gift from heaven..."

At the age of 13, she sang in the local youth choir under director Kenneth Mitchell and then was accepted into the Louisiana All-State Youth Choir. In school, she learned how to play drums, congas, saxophone, trumpet, organ and other keyboards.

In 2003 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Washington was rejected by several gospel groups who did not want her stage presence to take attention away from themselves. In 2007 she was physically prevented from entering the stage to accompany Bobby Jones and the Nashville Super Choir. A female police officer blocked the stairs up to the stage.

The festival organizers knew that Washington was popular with the crowds, so in 2008 they gave her a third headliner set in the gospel tent, backed by the Greater Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church choir. A week later at the same Jazz Fest, she was invited on stage by country music star Tim McGraw to help him on the song "I Like It, I Love It." McGraw said, "It sorta happened organically... She was around, and I thought it was a cool thing." Washington also joined guitarist and singer Ruthie Foster in the blues tent for an electrifying song that was met with a standing ovation from an overflow audience. Foster said that Washington "was really, really gracious about waiting for me to let her know when I wanted her to come onstage. She took it to another level." In 2011, Washington jumped up on stage with Eric Lindell and his band to energize the Bo Diddley song "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover", engaging Lindell's drummer Will McMains, with Lindell grinning the whole time. Singer-songwriter Dayna Kurtz said in 2012 about the Jazz Festival in New Orleans, "Look for the tambourine lady. If she's on stage in the gospel tent then you know the band is worthwhile."

Washington was honored as the featured performer in May 2017 at Gospel in the Park in Gonzales, Louisiana, backed by the Hosea Reddit Family.

Other music Washington has played with many other artists including Rockin' Dopsie and the Zydeco Twisters in 2007 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Washington has also joined New Orleans brass bands marching in town, and Mardi Gras Indians. She appears regularly with Charmaine Neville's funk band at Snug Harbor.

Acting Washington appeared on stage in the community theatre musical Purlie, produced in New Orleans at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre.