Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aria Newberry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Aria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I do wish I’d started earlier. I spent a lot of my formative years thinking I needed to fix certain things about myself before I could focus on my music; that if I wasn’t able to bring my best self to my art I would waste my chance to connect to people. I was wrong. Music, and art in general, turned out to be the best salve for my personal struggles and a crucial way to communicate with other people nursing the same hurts.

It can’t be overstated that anyone who has a passion for any kind of art needs to go out and do it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Aria Darling, and I am a musician. In my teens I started forming bands and teaching guitar. Over the years I played in countless bands in many different genres. Though I always kept a straight job I could never fully give up the need to write, study and play more than my free time allowed.
I’ve moved cross country for spots in what I thought was the right band at the time.

I currently perform in an Indie-Americana duo with my partner under the name, Nick Passey & Aria Darling.
We play out and tour regularly but you can also book us for private events.
I also teach guitar, bass, mandolin, and singing out of our home studio in South Salt Lake.

I think my life experience is what really sets me apart as a musician and teacher. My perspective as a queer woman will always be the lens through which I view life. I feel like that informs my songwriting and empathy.
Though there are a growing number of queer folk, country, and americana artists we are still fairly few and far between in a genre that hasn’t always been the most welcoming to people like us.

If you’d like to book my band, or schedule a lesson the easiest way to reach out is social media. I am present on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

As a society we desperately need a shift in perspective when it comes to our valuation of art. I feel like the average person now is a harder critic than we ever have been. Our expectations are so shaped by popular trends that it’s hard for people to give sincere artists who are putting themselves into their craft the time to even truly assess if that art is for them.

I think what society can do is look, listen, and appreciate. It’s my feeling that if we all spent a little more time searching for art we enjoy we’d have happier lives and find plenty of opportunities to support independent artists and creatives.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Art has always been a kind of self-contained therapy for me. I think the goal, or mission, that I’ll always be chasing is a freer version of myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickpasseyandariadarling/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickpasseyandariadarling
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Diepandadie
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nickpasseyandariadarling

Image Credits
David Sedano