We were lucky to catch up with AriRose recently and have shared our conversation below.

AriRose, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you’ve thought about whether to sign with an agent or manager?

I was definitely at the right place/right time when I landed my agent. Back in 2017 I played a music festival in St. Pete. After my performance, a woman from Tan Talk Radio approached me and said she wanted to have me on her show for an interview. A few weeks later, I returned to St. Pete to do the interview – towards the end of the segment the radio host said she had a surprise for me. The surprise was being offered an interview with an agent down south! I went to the headquarters a few weeks later, we had the interview and I got signed the same day. I think the agency decided to work with me because I had experience in the industry prior to all of this. I had been doing music and acting from a very young age. Most agencies prefer you to have some background. I think also having the radio show host’s good word put in for me also helped. I immediately knew I wanted to work with them because I had already been trying to sign with an agent for years prior to all of this. The industry is tough and no one ever calls you back. So for this to just easily land in my lap, I had to take it and run with it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I was 13 years old, I spent the summer at my aunt and uncle’s house. They had no kids and not much to do at their house besides tv, and I’m not too much of a tv person. I found an old dusty 49-key Yamaha in their closet and my uncle said I could have it. That’s where it all started. I became obsessed with playing piano – I’d play from the moment I woke up until super late at night. It got to the point where my aunt and uncle bought an earphone adapter so they didn’t have to hear my obnoxiously bad playing anymore – bless their hearts! I learned two classical pieces by ear by the end of summer. I eventually learned how to sing along with playing – that turned into me being introduced to open mics. I started playing originals at different open mics 4-5 times a week and becoming acclimated to performing in front of large crowds. Doing this, I started to meet other musicians and people in the industry and quickly learned that I could start doing this for a living. I decided I wanted to start playing gigs professionally. I invested in some equipment and put together a set list…. Voila, here we are!
Lately, my focus has been on releasing new music — Eventually I’ll resume booking showcases and music festivals when I have more material to play live.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Nothing is more heartwarming and rewarding than hearing someone say my music has touched them in some way, shape, or form. Its hard to wrap my head around the fact that sometimes I’ll be in a grocery store or somewhere far from home and someone will recognize me from some festival or from social media.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Even though its such a cliche line, it couldn’t be more true: the industry is very cut-throat. Learning how to live with rejection, or not getting a response when trying to book gigs was a tough one. I’d send hundreds of emails a week to booking agents and restaurant managers asking to play at their venue. I learned that either they won’t respond (until the 3rd or 4th follow up) or they don’t have a budget for entertainment.
Other times when I was going through financial hardship, I relied on busking or booking gigs to get by until payday… there were times when the venue decided to undercut the pay, or ghost me. I could keep going — but you live and you learn. I just keep my head high and keep on pushing forward. I’m glad I learned how to have “thick skin” and learned how to handle these situations with grace.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/arierosarie
• Twitter: twitter.com/arierosarie_
• Other: https://linktr.ee/arirosemusic

Image Credits
Jacqueline Marie Fillion Thomas Pinyati