We recently connected with Ashley Pyle and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents never let me quit.

I grew up playing the piano and taking private lessons, it was my first instrument. There were two times (that I can remember) that I desperately wanted nothing to do with the piano anymore. Knowing grown-up me, I can only assume that little me was fed up with hitting a plateau of knowledge, skills, or abilities- I still get frustrated when a challenge surpasses my natural abilities and I have to exert more energy than I assumed would be necessary.

The first thing that comes to mind of those times were my mom crying…she actually cried when I told her I didn’t want to play the piano anymore. I probably thought it was a little dramatic, but I promised her I would give it another try to make her feel better. Looking back on that time, I remember my piano teacher, Tom Hall, and all of the times he would tell his story: he wanted to quit when he was younger too. I was surprised, because that man was SO talented. He would tell a story of his own teacher and mother telling him: “just *one more* week”, and the feeling would subside. It might come back, and when it does, just give it *one more* week…the feeling will pass.

I don’t know if they told those stories or if my mother cried out of obligation, or fear of wasting all sorts of money on lessons, or wondering what else I would learn to quit…but I know that whatever I didn’t see in myself, they saw in me and made sure I gave myself the time to see it in myself too.

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 5, I told my mother I wanted to play the guitar- so she started me on piano. Retrospectively, I’m really happy she did that for me- it’s paved the way for a big, bright future learning instruments and teaching others how to learn and play their instruments as well! At this point, my energy is split two ways: live performance and collaboration with other artists, and growing my private lesson studio!

I have a passion for songwriting, and reaching people wherever they may be in life: from the highest highs, the lowest lows, and the super mundane “everyone goes through that, why is it special?” moments, and make them ALL a celebration, or at least an applause for our ability as human beings to give grace to ourselves and others. My mission is to take strangers and turn them into friends, and then into family, based on the philosophy that there is SO much strength, comfort, and power in community. The bigger the village, the less the issues impact the individual. At an Ashley Pyle show, you can expect to get some pop quizzes, and even homework, involving community outreach- take your phone out and ignore the next song you hear so you can text a friend or a loved one you haven’t spoken to in a while, are there any birthdays coming up that you might be able to send out a card for?, turn to your neighbor and introduce yourself and what you do for work, you never know who you’ll meet and how you might be able to support each other, etc. If I can’t reach my audience, I want my audience to reach each other. I realize that doesn’t lend anything to what I sound like, but that just means you’ll have to go stream my music to find out!

As for the lesson studio- I run a private lesson studio out of my home in Ferndale called Mirror Mirror Music Studio, and I’m accepting new students! I offer individual lessons at this moment in time, but by March of 2024 I’ll be teaching songwriting workshops and monthly group lessons. I teach beginner to advanced piano, beginner guitar, beginner to intermediate flute, and all levels of songwriting. My ultimate goal in teaching my students is to make sure they’re receiving wholly individualized instruction, utilizing frequent reflection on both goals and challenges, and creating a plan to help them achieve their goals! I use a combination of books, flashcards, music bingo, hand drums, worksheets, and ear training to make lessons extra functional and extra fun! Visit my website at www.ashleypyle.com/lessons for more information!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There’s not many other things that warm my heart and let me know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing than when someone approaches me after experiencing my art, whether at a show or after a lesson, and letting me know that I helped them in some way. Usually it’s phrased as “hey, I really dug that song you played, it reminded me of a really cool time in my life” or “thank you for sharing your art, you’re doing the thing!” or “I’m so glad I came to your show, a few of your songs really reached me, I needed tonight”, etc.

Knowing that I’m impacting people’s lives in such a personal way feels so fulfilling- I wrote the songs because I needed to hear them, and I know I’m not the only one that’s been through what I’ve been through to cause me to write them, so reaching people who are standing where I’ve stood before- OOF that hits the spot.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I can only speak for myself, but I know as a creative, I feel things a LOT and all over the place. It’s messy and it doesn’t always make sense, but being able to put my feelings into thoughts and reword my thoughts into lyrics and add melodies, it’s like painting a picture for the ears. I like to think making sense of my mess might reach the non-creatives and offer a sort of emotional servicing, whether they know it or not, which is a bonus.

However, taking all of my issues and turning them into a skillset, and then turning that into a business- that’s where it gets pseudo-non-creative, wherein all of the marking skills are required to do all the often tech-y and frequently tedious and boring logistical work in promoting my craft. Many times, I worry that the marketing and administrative work is taking up more time than the art itself.

So, all in all, the struggle I want to highlight that creatives go through to be successful is a heaping portion of marketing and promotional work, especially as an independent artist. The next time you’re scrolling on TikTok or your Insta/Facebook feeds and see an artist promoting their work or a future performance with a graphic or a video, please realize how much time it took to learn not only the performance, but the video editing/audience targeting/trend studying/etc that went into influencing their content.

Contact Info:

• Website: www. ashleypyle.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/apyleofwhat
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ashleypylemusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashleypylemusic

Image Credits
Reverie Photography, and Yorg Kerasiotis