In 1991, she released her debut album, "Wakened by the Wind", which became the top-selling debut in the history of the Sparrow Records label, with Ashton repeatedly reaching number one in the Christian charts that year. She was nominated for a Dove award for New Artist of the Year and won a CCM readers and reporters poll for Best New Artist. Ashton claimed that her fondest memories with Sparrow Records were during the recording of her first album, "That was so special and since I was so young and green, there was a real innocence in that process that's still beautiful to me. I can listen to anything on that record, and it's all very clear with distinct emotions attached to making it. I love everything about the lyrics, musicianship and instrumentation. There's one song, "No One Knows My Heart," where the drummer played a shoebox. On "Suffer in Silence," one of the instruments credited was a "pencil guitar."