Latest / The Scene Projects / Aaron Newsome: Storytelling, Authenticity, and Supporting Independent Artists

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Aaron Newsome: Storytelling, Authenticity, and Supporting Independent Artists · The Scene Projects

• 0:02
  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I'm your host, Bubba Starts.
• 0:05
  With me today is singer songwriter, Aaron Newsome.
• 0:08
  Welcome to the show, Aaron.
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  Thank you for having me.
• 0:10
  Excited to be here.
• 0:11
  Yeah.
• 0:12
  It's great, man.
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  Well, I'm glad that, we were able to make this happen.
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  I know we're both in the frozen tundra this morning.
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  But, before we get too far into the interview, why don't you go ahead and tell us a little bit
• 0:23
  about, who you are and what it is that you do musically?
• 0:26
  Yeah.
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  My name is Aaron Newsel.
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  I am a singer songwriter out of Pontiac, Illinois.
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  Just a little small town in Central Illinois.
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  I started doing this realistically as far as, you know, trying to trying to make something
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  out of it about a year ago, but I've always been singing.
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  But I was telling you a little bit before.
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  We started that, I play guitar.
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  I don't have a band, but I play guitar so I can go out and do it and accompany myself.
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  But, I'm a I'm a singer songwriter, country, soul, influenced by, you know, Johnny Johnny
• 1:01
  Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins.
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  I like a little bit of the red clay strays, that Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, you know,
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  that old storytelling, type of country.
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  I as opposed to the pop side of country, that's where I sort of live with with what I do,
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  influenced by, you know, Tom Jones, Chris Stapleton, a lot of those big sounding soul
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  singers.
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  That would be that would be a huge influence, that I've got.
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  I'm a vocalist more than I'm a guitar player, so, it's it's it's something that I've slowly
• 1:41
  been progressing in as far as my career with music.
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  But at the same time, it's also something that I've known I've always could do.
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  And now I'm just at the point where I'm getting some good attention.
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  People are liking what they're hearing.
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  I'm releasing some singles.
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  I'm doing all that good stuff, and just trying to keep one foot in front of the other, trying
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  to get to do you know, get through that next door, whatever that next door would be.
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  Trying to keep momentum.
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  That's, that's what this whole game is about, man.
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  And I will tell you as someone who's been stopped, because of my own choices in life.
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  Right?
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  I did a couple years in prison that, halted my career.
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  It's hard to get started.
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  It's hard to find the will to get it all started again once you kinda let those things
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  fade.
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  So I think that momentum in this industry is so key.
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  Love it, man.
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  Love the Yeah.
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  Love the the affinity for the old sound, the storytelling.
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  I think that's why country music is making such a huge comeback right now.
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  I would like to see the, you know, the upper echelon of country music maybe shake things up
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  a little bit more.
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  But, you know, with a a gal like Sierra Farrell winning a ton of awards this year, I know it
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  wasn't on the televised show, but it shows that something is changing.
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  And I think we're all kind of riding that wave.
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  I myself, you know, country rock artist, but I've been a storyteller.
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  And storytelling left rock music probably with the grunge era.
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  Right?
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  You you didn't really have that anymore, with late nineties bands.
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  You know?
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  It had just changed.
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  Rock music had changed.
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  I didn't call my country myself a country artist until maybe a year or two ago Yeah.
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  When I when I moved out to farm country.
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  I live here in South Dakota, thousand person town, just growing and doing what we do.
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  But it was here that I kind of refound that fire again.
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  Playing for just our friends and our little town events was like, man, I really like doing
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  that.
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  I would like to do more of that again and to and to pursue this career.
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  So, yeah, I'm proud of you, man.
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  Getting out there, it's not easy.
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  It's definitely not easy to do it sans a band to fall back on.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, I've always been, what I call a busker most of my life where it's just been me
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  and the guitar.
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  And I always say that there's something beautiful about the six strings and a human
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  voice.
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  And I don't know that there's any other instrument, you know, even the piano, I don't I
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  don't think is the same for just the magic that can happen.
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  Right?
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  So, love love everything that I heard from you, Aaron.
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  That's that's great.
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  So you got some you're releasing singles.
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  You're you're doing the whole thing now.
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  What what was your last single?
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  Let let's kinda start from there, we'll move forward.
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  Yeah.
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  So my most recent one, I released this last Friday on Valentine's Day, and it's called
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  Little Flyer.
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  It's been out for a while, but it took a while for me to get it on Spotify because it is a a
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  more sad song, and I didn't wanna have that be the first, you know, release on Spotify.
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  As as logistics and planning goes, the
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  people So you waited for Valentine's Day.
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  Great
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  move.
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  Yep.
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  Yeah.
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  Exactly.
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  But I had a I wrote the song last March.
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  I had a friend who I went to high school with.
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  She passed away.
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  And just based off of, like, a lot of stuff that I had seen from, you know, memorials
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  written about her from our other friends or family or just people that I knew knew her,
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  Everything I was reading was something that I had already known, as far as who she was or
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  what she brought to the life of another person.
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  And so I sort of took all that and wrote it into a little song.
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  And, she was a cheerleader, for our high school.
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  She was a really tiny girl, so they were, throwing her in the air.
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  Her position was the flyer.
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  And so the song is called Little Flyer.
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  It's about Britney, just about how much light she brought into everybody's life and, you
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  know, who she crossed was left with a, impression that would be lasting forever.
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  So, it's about it's about her.
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  It's a I really enjoy the song.
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  It's a cool thing to be able to write something that is going to allow people to heal in a, you
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  know, specific way.
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  That's one of the things I like about being able to write music and play music is that it
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  it sorta it hits you how it wants to hit you, but it's up to you to, you know, get that get
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  that type of, emotion from the song.
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  I released that one.
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  So that one's been out a couple days.
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  Before that, I released just a couple weeks ago, actually, my first single called hometown
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  song.
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  It's about me growing up in small town Pontiac, Illinois, with my sister and my friend Jacob,
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  and we just go around.
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  And from what I remember growing up is in the song.
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  You know?
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  I I I remember falling out of a bunk bed, and, I hit my head on the floor, and I think, so
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  that's in the song.
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  We went around and stole toys out of people's houses and, you know, rocks out of the gardens
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  thinking that they were little crystals, and that's in the song.
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  So a lot of true, true things that happened are in that song.
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  And I recently just released a music video for it as well, on my YouTube page, and it's been
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  really good reception on that, on both of those, the song and the video, for the past
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  couple days.
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  It's been cool to see people are enjoying it.
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  People I don't know, you know, say, this is, you know, this is exactly what small town, you
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  know, growing up is like.
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  And I'm like, I I enjoy hearing people say that because it's it's a it's it it fulfilling as a
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  songwriter to have other people feel the same way about a song that you wrote it for.
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  And I I like being able to, you know, build that bridge between the people.
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  We may not know each other, but we have sort of the same experiences, and that's what I like
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  to, you know, throw out through my music.
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  But those are the two things that I've that I've got out so far, a hometown song and little
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  flyer.
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  I got a couple other things in the works, but studio time is studio time.
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  And if I can get in there, I'll get in there.
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  But yeah.
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  Totally.
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  I I love that you're writing songs to resonate with small town folk.
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  You're not coming into this with a with a mission to you know, obviously, we all wanna
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  get famous.
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  Right?
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  We'd all love our songs that we played on the radio, but you're you are coming to the
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  songwriting from a place of self expression.
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  You are expressing who you are.
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  And I think that's the most important thing for especially young artists like yourself just
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  getting started.
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  Stay true to that.
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  Don't don't ever change that part of you.
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  Don't ever start to write songs for someone else because it's not gonna work.
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  And, you know, it's coming up a lot now with with AI and the songwriting, apps and different
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  things that they have using it, which I've heard.
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  And I have friends that have, you know, almost no musical talent that were able to, you know,
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  plug in an idea into this thing, and it spits out in the song.
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  And they're super excited about it, it's like that's that's amazing.
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  I'm glad that you get to experience some small part of what songwriters like Aaron and I get
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  to experience when we craft a song, but it's not the same.
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  It's artificial.
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  It it didn't come from your, your beating heart onto that page.
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  Now Yeah.
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  You know, playing on a guitar and then performing it for people, whether that's in a
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  studio or whether that's in a live setting.
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  So love your commitment to it.
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  I hope that your continued success here in the real world helps to spur on more production of
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  things.
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  Right?
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  Whether it's at home and recording, you know, just demos of songs or, you know, home
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  recordings, or that's taking it into the studio and doing it right, which we know, can cost
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  significantly more money to do so.
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  Yeah.
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  It's it's not an easy thing to be to be out here in this world, especially a solo artist.
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  As someone with a vast amount of experience in it.
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  I'm very fortunate to have some really talented friends that not only own a studio, but are
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  super talented players as well because my songs aren't they aren't a small acoustic song.
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  Right?
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  Some of these songs when they came out were this big production.
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  And even though I wrote it on an acoustic guitar, it was never meant to be that.
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  So I face a lot of the struggles with with studio time, especially because it's not only
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  do I have to find the studio, but I have to find the players now that are coming in.
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  Now you're talking about extra cost unless you got really good friends, you know, that are
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  willing to come and be on your record for free.
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  But there's so many challenges and so many hurdles to to jump over, and it kind of it's
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  kind of the reason why we've developed with our songwriter showcase.
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  We have an Own Your Showcase program now, Aaron.
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  So what we're doing is we film everything HD broadcast quality.
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  We're filming them in a actual recording studio now, so the sound quality that you're getting
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  is premium quality.
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  And then not only are we providing that to our audience and putting it out there as a
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  broadcast, but we're also giving our artists the chance to own that on their own to use.
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  So now you're getting three singles.
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  You're getting three videos.
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  You're getting your interview portions.
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  Heck, we'll even write an article about you on our online magazine.
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  So you're getting three singles, three videos, and, you know, a a press kit essentially
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  delivered back to you Yeah.
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  For the the price of maybe just a day in the studio without any editing or post production
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  to it whatsoever.
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  And it's because of guys like you that are kind of blocked out from recording more because of
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  the cost associated with it.
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  Right?
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  I I mean, our cost is still, you know, around the $500 mark, but you could spend $500 just
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  doing one song.
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  Right?
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  And having no video of that and having no, right, nothing to besides that.
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  You just have a recording, and now you have to do the the mastering and the all the other
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  things.
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  Right?
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  So we're trying to eat into that.
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  We just developed this program.
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  We plan on taking it around the country and to come to you to do that.
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  Right?
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  Like, we have the equipment.
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  We'll travel.
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  We love meeting new people.
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  So, yeah, maybe we'll be making a trip out to Pontiac, Illinois here before too long, and
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  we're able to come not just support you, but to support other people around you that are doing
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  the same thing that are limited by I'm sure there's not a lot of recording studios in
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  Pontiac right now.
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  So my, a little backstory on me.
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  I am originally from the Illinois area.
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  My parents were born and raised in Romeoville.
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  We lived in Crest Hill before we left.
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  My mom lived in Hinkley for several years, which is just a little farm town, you know,
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  well Southwest of the Chicago area, you know, South Of DeKalb and places like that.
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  So I know your community.
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  Right?
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  I I might not have been there in person, but I know it.
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  My community here in South Dakota is very much the same.
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  So what we're trying to do here at the scene and what has always been our mission is to
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  support songwriters just like you, Aaron, to to put you on our programs, to find ways to serve
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  you because you are part of the community.
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  And even though your physical community of Pontiac might be very, very small and not have
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  a lot of those resources.
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  Because you're a part of the Scene Projects community now, we can make a lot more things
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  happen for you, and that's not to say that there's some membership needed to make that
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  happen either.
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  Right?
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  You're you're just a member of the community by being Aaron Newsome.
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  Mhmm.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I I we've got a open mic spot.
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  There's a small venue in Pontiac called the two zero two guesthouse where they sorta have
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  started to do the same thing for open mic nights.
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  Because there's not a whole lot of opportunity in Pontiac or really venues and such in Pontiac
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  that is for, you know, the open mic player as opposed to the gig type player.
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  The open mics are very popular because it's really the only thing that we've got.
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  And so those things are jam packed with musicians who are driving thirty, forty five
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  minutes, sometimes up to an hour to come out come out and do three or four or five songs.
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  Because it's also a listening room atmosphere as well.
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  It's not a bar.
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  It's not a restaurant.
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  There's no TVs playing.
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  Everybody's coming to listen, and it's really a a unique and, precious environment to to play
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  in as an artist.
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  And they've started doing sort of that same thing where they've just got a they've got a
• 14:49
  system through some cameras on the wall.
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  And if you go in there and they've got a show or if you go in there and they've got a open
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  mic, you can request some of that footage, and they'll hand it over to you.
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  It's nothing, you know, stew no too studio fancy or anything like that.
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  You're getting you're getting a direct sound out of the out of the actual, systems.
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  So you're getting a really crisp sound.
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  You're getting a really good video.
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  But it's that same type of we have no reason to do this other than to help you other than to
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  help you get this information out other than for you to hopefully, you know, post this
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  somewhere and people can see what you're doing.
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  And if you want a gig, you can get a gig out of it type of thing.
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  So having those things in place, whether it's an open mic, whether it's a studio, whether
• 15:35
  it's anybody that wants to come along and just, oh, somebody asked me and I couldn't do this,
• 15:39
  so I threw your name in the ring instead.
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  Those are the really awesome things about being a beginning musician, up and comer musician
• 15:49
  that it's like it's like, I'm not I I'm not asking you to do these things for me, but
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  you're doing them for me.
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  You're you're putting my name out there.
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  You're you're listening to my music.
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  You're helping me out along the way.
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  And that that only means that I'm doing good at what I'm doing, and I should keep doing it.
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  Back to the back to the songwriting, I never wanna write a song that isn't true.
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  Not that not, you know, not in the sense that it didn't happen to me, but something that I'm
• 16:20
  not, you know, really feeling.
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  I don't wanna put that out there because if if it doesn't mean much to me, I don't think it'll
• 16:28
  mean much to the person that is listening to it.
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  So I always try to write honest music, whether it's about somebody or something or, you know,
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  just a figment of, you know, a conversation that I had, and somebody threw out a couple
• 16:46
  couple words.
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  And I was like, you know, that sounds like it could be a it could be a song.
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  Even if it's something as, you know, silly as that would be, I always try to make it true.
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  You listen to a lot of music today that are on the charts, that are on the billboards, and
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  it's like it makes me think that, okay.
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  Maybe I am doing a good job with my songwriting because some of the songwriting and some of
• 17:11
  these songs just like, this is this is what people are listening to.
• 17:15
  Well, and a a lot of it is just recycled.
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  It's just recycled themes with recycle.
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  I mean, just even even the tone of the of the song, and it's all just been recycled.
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  And that's kind of the nature of pop music.
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  Right?
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  They know what works.
• 17:31
  It's a business to them, and and that's what it is.
• 17:34
  But that's not why guys like Willie and Waylon were out writing music and playing shows.
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  Right?
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  Yep.
• 17:41
  And I think that the resurgence of the outlaw, right, and the people that are just gonna do it
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  on their own, not necessarily out of spite to Nashville, but a little bit of looking at that.
• 17:54
  And now that we all have a much better grasp of exactly what Nashville is, you're a lot closer
• 18:00
  to it than I am.
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  But I have several friends that work down there.
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  They're in the writers' rooms all the time.
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  They're they're doing all of those things, but they find a richness to our Midwest where, you
• 18:13
  know, a lot of them are from and Yeah.
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  And a richness to coming back to these smaller communities and playing here all summer and
• 18:20
  being out in the community again, but then having the resources of Nashville and that kind
• 18:26
  of being the draw.
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  Now Yep.
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  Still being true to yourself, but using Nashville for what it is.
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  It's a great resource.
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  There's a lot of people there that can really help you advance your craft and not necessarily
• 18:39
  your career.
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  And I think if you come into it with that mentality that I'm going there because there's
• 18:46
  people that can help me with the craft of songwriting, with the craft of playing, with
• 18:51
  the craft of performing, and not necessarily this is gonna be my break.
• 18:56
  They and, you know, and you put so much pressure on this one weekend in Nashville that
• 19:00
  you're having and expecting all of those doors to just blow open to you, not realizing that
• 19:06
  there's you know, that door that you're standing in front of has 37 locks down the
• 19:10
  thing.
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  Right?
• 19:11
  And and you gotta have some keys to get into that room.
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  But the keys are available to you.
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  You just have to go out and learn the skills and and to learn the processes.
• 19:21
  Yeah.
• 19:22
  I'm going for the first time as a performer, as a musician, to actually do some things down
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  there, at the March into June, and I'm I'm looking forward to it.
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  I've got some friends who live down there who are in the songwriting atmosphere.
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  And what you just said is everything that they've already said is is that, yeah, it's
• 19:42
  like, you know, there's good people that are there to help you, but, you know, nobody's
• 19:47
  gonna come along and be like, alright.
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  You're the guy we want on the record label.
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  You're the guy we want in the room, you know, recording the songs.
• 19:53
  Here, I wrote four of these songs.
• 19:54
  I want you to record them.
• 19:56
  It's people are wanting to help you, but it's it's in for those specific things like you
• 20:00
  talked about.
• 20:01
  Like, wanna help you with your stage presence.
• 20:03
  I wanna help you with the way that you're playing your guitar.
• 20:06
  I wanna help you with the way that, you know, your writing still is really good, but here's a
• 20:10
  couple tricks and things that I like to use or a, you know, a a template that I like to see
• 20:16
  when I'm writing that is going to help you just have better songs.
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  And like like you said, those are the things that are only gonna help you make it through to
• 20:26
  what your end goal is.
• 20:27
  Right?
• 20:28
  Having those people come along and help you and get you to your, you know, ultimate potential
• 20:33
  to where you can go in.
• 20:35
  And when that time arises for, you know, someone to come along and be like, you know
• 20:38
  what?
• 20:38
  We wanna try you in a studio or something like that.
• 20:41
  That you have all of that that good knowledge and and the time in and the actual, you know,
• 20:50
  playing time and and experience to be able to go in and just crush it when you need to crush
• 20:55
  it.
• 20:56
  But I'm I'm looking forward to it.
• 20:57
  I'm nervous, because it's like, especially coming from a small town, it's like people hear
• 21:03
  me and are like, dang.
• 21:03
  Like, you're really good.
• 21:05
  But then you go to Nashville, and it's like everybody who's been from a small town and has
• 21:08
  been told they're really good is at the same place.
• 21:11
  And so it's like it's like, maybe I'm gonna get there and sound like shit compared to the rest
• 21:15
  of these people.
• 21:16
  Brother, I didn't even have to get all the way to Nashville.
• 21:19
  I went to our Midwest Country Music Organization Awards show last year, and I was
• 21:24
  like, man, I really better pick up this podcasting thing because as a musician and not
• 21:30
  that we're in competition with one another, but there was just so many people already on that
• 21:35
  path.
• 21:36
  Right?
• 21:36
  We, you know, we have over 300 members, not all of them necessarily are artists, but several
• 21:41
  hundred artists that I've become really good friends with that I'm watching and and I'm
• 21:45
  listening to their songs, and I'm just like, wow.
• 21:47
  I don't even know if my stuff stands up to their stuff.
• 21:50
  How could it stand up to stuff that's coming out of Nashville?
• 21:53
  And what it really did was put me back on the path of learning.
• 21:56
  Right?
• 21:57
  And and not necessarily learning the music business, what do we but learning where can I
• 22:02
  support this community?
• 22:04
  Where can I support all these people that I just absolutely love?
• 22:07
  And I'm already sharing their stuff on my Facebook and on our band page and and I'm doing
• 22:11
  that, but what else can we do?
• 22:13
  And then, you know, a podcast kinda lands in your lap, and you find out over the course of,
• 22:20
  you know, nine months or so that you're actually really good at it.
• 22:23
  Yeah.
• 22:23
  Like, okay.
• 22:23
  This is what I do now.
• 22:24
  Right?
• 22:25
  I mean, we just started this podcast in April of last year.
• 22:28
  We're still brand new.
• 22:30
  Right?
• 22:31
  Yeah.
• 22:31
  I think of the days where I was, learn playing guitar.
• 22:35
  I had been playing guitar for nine months, and I wasn't getting on a stage then.
• 22:40
  And I wasn't performing, yet here I am nine months into a podcasting career, and I'm
• 22:45
  performing every single day.
• 22:47
  And that's how I support my community.
• 22:50
  It's why it's on our sign right behind me.
• 22:52
  It's why it's a focus of what we do is to support I'm 38.
• 22:56
  I'll be 39 this year.
• 22:57
  Right?
• 22:58
  I I am moving into the OG section of my life where it's like I kinda been there, done that,
• 23:04
  and I lived through the whole change.
• 23:06
  I mean, when I was growing up and in high school, it was all, Bubba, you gotta go and
• 23:11
  you're gonna go get that record deal and everything's gonna be made for you.
• 23:15
  And now twenty years later, that's not even a reality at all.
• 23:20
  Like, if you don't have ten years to dedicate to your craft and to be in it and to probably
• 23:27
  take a lot of l's in the meantime, you're never gonna get there anyway.
• 23:32
  You know what?
• 23:32
  I look at a gal like Alexandra Kay who's a a fellow Illinois native, And, you know, that gal
• 23:39
  worked her ass off in Nashville for decades.
• 23:43
  You know?
• 23:43
  Thought you had a Netflix show.
• 23:45
  Oh, crash.
• 23:45
  Record deals.
• 23:46
  Oh, crash.
• 23:47
  And then now to see her out there absolutely conquering the world, standing next to Jelly
• 23:52
  Roll on stage.
• 23:53
  I was just at her show with 300 people two years ago in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
• 23:58
  I gave her a hug, told her how proud of her I was, just like like, you're gonna rise.
• 24:02
  It's happening for you right now.
• 24:04
  And the fact that I get to, like, still be in this small circle with you and and to share she
• 24:10
  was so excited about our band.
• 24:12
  And, oh my god, I like, I was playing at that same venue, and she was excited for me, and
• 24:17
  good luck.
• 24:18
  We were front row for show.
• 24:20
  It was so life changing because she, you know, put the microphone in my face, like, what's the
• 24:24
  name of your band?
• 24:25
  When are you playing here?
• 24:26
  Like, on the stage during the show.
• 24:28
  Right?
• 24:28
  And that's like, that's so crazy, but she did that for every single person in the room.
• 24:34
  Every single fan that was there to see her, she gave that time to.
• 24:39
  And, it changed my life.
• 24:41
  It it was like that's that's how you build a following.
• 24:44
  That's how you make a name for yourself.
• 24:47
  It's just go be that good person that you are anyway.
• 24:51
  And and it starts with the music.
• 24:53
  You know, the music that she writes speaks from her soul.
• 24:56
  That's why people gravitate to it.
• 24:58
  You know, obviously, with her, you know, the big stuff that she's written has been breakup
• 25:03
  songs and things like that.
• 25:04
  So obviously, a very big female demographic for her songs, but it was true to her.
• 25:10
  And it showed her who her community is.
• 25:13
  And now they come out and they support her.
• 25:15
  She's playing stadiums and like and my thing is, like, if she can do it, and and five years
• 25:22
  ago, she was on TikTok after getting kicked off of Broadway because of COVID.
• 25:26
  Right?
• 25:27
  And she's just doing coffee and country.
• 25:29
  And it's like if this woman can get there and to do all of those things, then so can I and so
• 25:36
  can any single person that I've ever met that wants to be a musician?
• 25:40
  Right?
• 25:41
  So it's taking everything that we learn every day and and finding the usefulness in it and
• 25:47
  using it and just working and working and working.
• 25:51
  And that's what a lot of people that's what they don't have.
• 25:56
  Right?
• 25:56
  They don't have work ethic to just keep going.
• 25:59
  Like, it's gonna suck.
• 26:00
  There's gonna be times where it sucks really bad, and you don't have the the the money to do
• 26:06
  what you want to do, and you don't have the time to do all the things, but you gotta keep
• 26:11
  going.
• 26:11
  You gotta keep just pushing forward.
• 26:14
  Like you said, one foot in front of the other because eventually, you can get there.
• 26:20
  You know?
• 26:20
  Even a guy like Jelly Roll has an incredible comeback story, huge embrace for me.
• 26:25
  I shared a little bit about my prison time.
• 26:27
  It wasn't until seeing him that went, well, people are, like, really resonating with his
• 26:31
  story the same way I am.
• 26:33
  Like, maybe it's okay for me to share my story like that.
• 26:37
  My addictions, my prison time, my mistakes.
• 26:40
  Like, I own them.
• 26:41
  I've never shied away from them, and I wasn't trying to hide them in my personal life.
• 26:46
  Yeah.
• 26:47
  But I wasn't bringing them to my professional life.
• 26:49
  And I think that's that's what people want now.
• 26:53
  People want to see the realness of a human being.
• 26:56
  They don't mind if you make mistakes.
• 26:58
  They're willing to give you a little bit of grace and to allow you to grow and to become a
• 27:04
  better human being over time.
• 27:05
  For young artists like yourself, you know, just getting started, like, you have all of that to
• 27:12
  build a platform off of right away instead of having to, like, try to go be someone else for
• 27:17
  twenty years and, like, oh, this is what the industry likes.
• 27:20
  This is who I should be, and then realizing that you just wasted two decades.
• 27:24
  And having to come back to, like, oh, I can just be this.
• 27:27
  I can be me and people are gonna like that.
• 27:31
  It just blows your world wide open.
• 27:33
  And, you know, I I hope that, you know, through our podcast, through our, our community that
• 27:40
  young artists like you don't have to go through those two decades.
• 27:43
  Right?
• 27:44
  You're able to just build on that platform and then launch.
• 27:47
  So a a big congratulations to you and everything that you're doing.
• 27:51
  I'm super excited for you to get down to Nashville and and really start doing the thing.
• 27:55
  How far of a drive is it from Pontiac to Nashville?
• 27:59
  It's like six, seven hours.
• 28:02
  It's really not it's not that long.
• 28:04
  I mean, I drive a lot anyways.
• 28:06
  I'm doing shows like three hours away.
• 28:09
  So driving for me is is perfectly fine, but it's definitely not not as close as I would
• 28:15
  like it to be.
• 28:16
  Like I said, being in Pontiac, not really having an opportunity to do anything
• 28:21
  necessarily in my immediate area is kind of a like you said, it's a it's a struggle that it's
• 28:28
  just something I have to deal with for now.
• 28:30
  But because of that, I'm getting those miles in and driving everywhere I can to to play places.
• 28:36
  But it's Little brother, I am ninety minutes away from any town that has over 15,000 people.
• 28:41
  So I feel you.
• 28:44
  Yep.
• 28:45
  Completely.
• 28:46
  But that's the beauty of the Internet now.
• 28:48
  Right?
• 28:48
  It is getting on.
• 28:49
  You're a great you're a great conversationalist.
• 28:52
  I suggest that you'd start your own podcast and start talking with other people that are out in
• 28:56
  your area and let things grow from there, because that's another great way to build a
• 29:01
  community around you.
• 29:03
  Right?
• 29:03
  Is then it's not just all about, oh, well, I can't get back in studio today, you know what I
• 29:08
  mean, this month because I don't have the money or my money's going elsewhere to a trip to
• 29:12
  Nashville or something like that.
• 29:13
  Starting your own podcast and and kind of putting it out as content on your YouTube page
• 29:18
  that I'm sure you already have.
• 29:19
  Right?
• 29:20
  You're releasing this stuff.
• 29:21
  Just start doing it, man.
• 29:23
  I I hope that today is the tip of the iceberg for you in that realm because just listening to
• 29:29
  you talk, you would be a very good host.
• 29:31
  You would be very good at having other people on and relating with them and and featuring
• 29:36
  them.
• 29:36
  And it will allow you to become, you know, the authority of the middle of nowhere in Illinois
• 29:41
  for music.
• 29:42
  Right?
• 29:43
  Yeah.
• 29:43
  Yeah.
• 29:43
  And then
• 29:44
  you're you build a platform for not just yourself, but for others and and that next
• 29:48
  generation of kids, man.
• 29:49
  Because there's gonna be there's kids in high school right now in Pontiac that are either
• 29:54
  seeing you or seeing other artists around and going, man, I want to do that.
• 29:57
  And granted it might only be one out of the graduating class of 57.
• 30:01
  Right?
• 30:02
  Yep.
• 30:02
  Yep.
• 30:03
  But that's one person.
• 30:05
  Right?
• 30:05
  And and that's how we keep this thing going, and we continue to not just be inspired, but to
• 30:12
  inspire others as well.
• 30:13
  Yeah.
• 30:14
  Yeah.
• 30:14
  I that's the one thing I I love no matter no matter, like, how far I I get in this industry
• 30:22
  doing whatever it is I may end up doing.
• 30:26
  I love being able to just help, whether, you know, oh, I'm I'm looking for a place that will
• 30:33
  let me play.
• 30:34
  Let me shoot you three or four or five of the people that I'm always going to that I know
• 30:38
  what have you.
• 30:40
  I mean, that's the only reason I've gotten as many gigs as I've been able to get is because
• 30:44
  the people who have heard me that have had to pass up opportunities because they're already
• 30:48
  booked and say, you know what?
• 30:49
  Instead of me, look at Aaron Newsome.
• 30:51
  Or instead of me, look at this person.
• 30:53
  Instead of me, look at this person.
• 30:54
  And, I mean, this is the start of my second year doing this.
• 31:00
  The first year, probably 50% of my gigs were looking at ask Aaron because I can't.
• 31:05
  So I'm I'm fully appreciative of of everybody who's done that.
• 31:10
  I wouldn't be at the place or at the spot that I am in through you know, as far as my journey
• 31:16
  goes without those people and without those people helping me along the way.
• 31:19
  So if there's anything if it's the least I can do, I would just love to be able to help people
• 31:25
  figure out, you know, whatever that next step may be.
• 31:30
  I don't have a whole lot of experience under my belt doing this, but I like I said, if there's
• 31:36
  anything that I can I can do to help somebody along the way, I would love to be able to do
• 31:40
  that?
• 31:41
  Right.
• 31:41
  Well and your experience that you do have is a hundred times more than someone with zero
• 31:48
  experience.
• 31:48
  And I think if we all start to take that mentality, it's not like, well, even though I'm
• 31:53
  just starting out here, I know things that somebody else doesn't.
• 31:57
  And sharing those and sharing that knowledge is how you kind of just accelerate all of these
• 32:02
  processes and get things moving.
• 32:04
  So kudos to you for for turning around and within two years, you know, being the new guy
• 32:11
  to being someone who's looked up to in your scene as well.
• 32:15
  That's great.
• 32:16
  And it sounds like you got a great little community out there around Pontiac and your
• 32:20
  other small towns that are already supporting each other, and I love it, man.
• 32:24
  I love to hear it.
• 32:25
  Aaron, I gotta let you go, but before I do, you you got anything coming up here in the month of
• 32:30
  March that you wanna plug and, make sure everybody knows your website and everything
• 32:34
  like that?
• 32:35
  You follow me, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Aaron Newsome Music.
• 32:41
  That's where you can follow me.
• 32:42
  Don't have a website yet, but I'm gonna be out and about all over in March.
• 32:48
  Let me see.
• 32:49
  Let me see.
• 32:52
  Anything off the top of my head is is currently missing, but I am super updated on Facebook
• 32:57
  where I'm gonna be and where I'm gonna be playing.
• 32:59
  I've been hitting a lot of national anthems.
• 33:01
  I've been doing that recently too Okay.
• 33:03
  Which is I I'll do a three hour set before I do a anthem.
• 33:06
  Those things are the most stressful.
• 33:09
  So it's it's if you've never done one, it's you won't know how stressful it is until you're
• 33:14
  doing it in front of a stadium full of people.
• 33:16
  Yeah.
• 33:16
  I haven't got to do a stadium, but I've done a couple of local gyms, and and I I can
• 33:20
  appreciate that, buddy.
• 33:22
  It's it's it's a it's a it's a it's a great song if you do it correctly.
• 33:28
  And it's a it's a good feeling to to have knowing that you're able to do the national
• 33:32
  anthem.
• 33:32
  People keep having to come back.
• 33:34
  But, nothing that I can think of on the top of my head for March.
• 33:39
  I know there's a lot, though.
• 33:41
  Like I said, it'll be on my Facebook.
• 33:43
  An announcement dropped today.
• 33:45
  I'll be opening for the Oak Ridge Boys in August at the Fairberry Fair, so that's a super
• 33:49
  cool, next step for me.
• 33:52
  That's the first opening sort of, opportunity that I've that I've had.
• 33:57
  So that's the you know, the next door that I'm walking into is sort of doing things like that
• 34:02
  and just trying to get my name out there a little bit longer.
• 34:04
  But, yeah, keep keep following along, Aaron, do some music, and I'll be I'll be posting where
• 34:10
  I'm gonna be and what's coming up.
• 34:12
  And I do it about every week.
• 34:15
  So I'm always looking for new fans and new new faces in the crowd.
• 34:19
  I appreciate all the support that everybody's given me, and I I appreciate you for, having me
• 34:23
  on and letting me talk for a little bit today.
• 34:25
  Yeah.
• 34:26
  My pleasure.
• 34:27
  Aaron Newsome, thanks for being part of the scene.
• 34:29
  Yeah.
• 34:29
  Thank you.