Posts by Aaron J. Shay

Over time, our choices start to form a theme, an overarching message to the world about us and what we stand for. I think about it like a motto on a coat of arms, or the mission of an artistic ministry. What does our work stand for?

Staying silent is a way of obeying the rules and protecting yourself while doing nothing to address the bigotry on display in front of you. Every day that a bigot thinks they can get away with their hatred in public is another day they can influence others to their way of thinking.

Everything we touch and use in this world has been affected by the choices of businesses, governments, activist groups and individual people. The instruments we play our music on, our paints and canvases, the plays that we read from, the books that we publish.

Even when I am successful at my chosen work—music—is there anything about it that does good work for society? Does it change anyone’s perspective for the better?

Even those among us within the music community can feel like outsiders to another niche. When you’re a lone artist out on the lookout for collaborators, it can feel like the world is dead-set against you.

When there are established expectations, you can use that expectation as part of your art. You can distort it. You can reject it. You can play with it. An audience’s expectation of you is material you can shape, and you don’t have to follow the instruction booklet.

I want to have the freedom to write about my experiences without causing unintended stress to those who are listening.

Science fiction and folk music are complementary ideas. This may sound strange to some, but for me, it just makes sense.

House shows are popping up to fill the void that small and mid-size venues are leaving behind.

Today, we’re gonna talk about Respect. It’s a critical part of a successful house show.

In the USA, we often feel that talking about income is coarse and rude, but it’s a critical part of ensuring workplace equality, and this goes for artists, too.

The best house concerts for me have been where people from many walks of life come together and interact in a neutral space.

Some people will tip you with fresh produce. These people are your friends.

Luckily for you, I’ve compiled a few recommendations, culled from both personal experience and the experience of friends.

I thought, surely our friends will come and support us. Surely. We’re good enough; people like us.

We learn far more from the works we complete than the works that stand waiting in the wings, hoping and waiting for perfection to show up.