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

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Creative pursuits can lack structure. I am not a type A personality; I don’t crave structure and routine. However, carving my own path is difficult. I’m so familiar with my voice – singing is my comfort. Every other aspect of my musicianship are accomplished through research. I am constantly learning and working with the strengths of others. My strengths are only shown with the help of a team which I am still building as needs arise.

I find the financial aspect of navigating a creative career to be the biggest hardship but don’t care to tell a story about money. In fact, focusing on money, though important for sustaining life, is crushing for my creativity. When I ponder moments of writers block, I often consider if it’s because I’m not creating for myself but rather an audience who will stream my music and buy my merch.

I’ve always lived creatively. I’ve been privileged to spend a lot of time in my mind, daydreaming as an unbothered only child before the iPad age. I have always constantly expressed myself creatively in a free-flowing manner. The difficulty I find with my current pursuits are all of the hats I need to wear: creative and clerical. If I could only express through song, I would have many. I often feel overwhelmed by the task to make everything happen.

My joy is singing. I spent several years in bands collaboratively writing and being accompanied (I was not playing any instruments.) In 2020, I was without my collaborators. In lieu of accompaniment, I started to teach myself guitar. With the newfound ability to express, I discovered that I had stories of my own to tell and started to teach myself songwriting as well. These two new skills alone are challenging and ever-evolving! It has been electrifying to discover this creative independence.

I have been a natural performer my entire life, but being on stage alone was a new feeling. After developing my solo project, I rebuilt a band around me. My collaborators contribute immensely to my project, yet my responsibilities continue to grow. I am now playing guitar as I learn how, writing songs that I’ve mustered up the emotional availability to write, booking local shows and tours, generating and sharing promotional materials, designing and materializing merch, bookkeeping, hiring documentarians, strengthening a platform which benefits causes outside of myself — the list goes on.

I believe in the talent of myself and my collaborators. I need to remind myself of that each time I feel crushed by the weight of doing this work without a manager, agent, promoter or consistent media help. I know that I have done A LOT to get to the point I am today, but it is easy to forget that work when there is constantly more to do. I am comforted by the prospect of building more community and settling in with a team that wants to create with me.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Here is my artist bio:

Alaska-based Indigenous songwriter Ashley Young is a hopeful romantic with unforgettable vocal warmth. Her lovesick disposition is a light-hearted lens to radical reclamation. Audience members of Ashley’s live performances experience catharsis through her infectious laughter and refreshing honesty. With a goal of promoting authenticity, connection, and cycle breaking, Ashley’s music reveals vulnerable and personal truths that many experience but are often afraid to discuss. Her sources of strength are self-love, risk-taking, and Tlingít tribal values like humor and community.

After performing for a decade in Boise, Idaho, Ashley returned home to Alaska. Upon her return, she was nominated best singer in town. Anchorage Daily News tapped Young as Alaska’s potential breakout star of 2023. Ashley is on the DIY circuit, completing her third west coast tour spring 2024. She played the main stage at Áak’w Rock Indigenous Music Festival and Sundown Solstice Festival in 2023. Ashley Young and her band opened for 3-time Grammy-nominated Australian future soul band Hiatus Kaiyote. Ashley’s act continues to captivate, bringing attention to the vibrant indie music scene in Alaska.

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I perform to connect. I want to connect with artists, art and music lovers, and those with curious minds. I hope touring the world will expand my mind and connect me to people who live curiously and with wonder. I am inspired by people who are constantly working to decolonize their minds— living with the intention to connect with community, nature, their inner child. I want to be influenced by people who love openly and care more about where birds are flying than expression of wealth. I want to be challenged and be a life-long student.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I formed my first band in 2012 and have participated in 6 projects since. During those first 10 years, I was going to college while working full time. When I graduated with my K-12 Art Education degree, I taught high school ceramics for 2 years. I loved my job, but music was getting none of my attention. I needed to make a change. I made the very difficult decision to leave teaching to carve out time for music. I knew leaving the job was just the beginning of a long transition that I am still in. I knew that being a touring musician required flexibility.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Our modern world offers us many shortcuts. Art loses its value when cheap goods are generated by exploited communities and or artificial intelligence. Streaming services are actively exploiting musicians and devaluing our work.

On top of cheap distribution of mass-generated art, creative work pursuits have a reputation of worthlessness. Many members of my family have begged me to take myself more seriously and pursue a career of substance (one of those suggestions being quitting teaching to get 2 jobs, one of which being working for Amazon…) For my family, value lies in making money. They don’t believe that creative art contributes to our society. How is it that those folks can ignore their constant consumption of art? Those same folks express themselves through fashion, watch movies, and listen to curated soundscapes of music everywhere they wait, shop, eat, etc.

Those that value art should make a conscious effort to support real artists. Humanize us by consuming and promoting our work. Foster the value of our work intentionally and discourage the human exploitation.

Contact Info:

• Website: HTTPS://Www.ashleyyoungmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleydaydreaming/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557439873199&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@ashleydaydreaming

Image Credits

Ronald Swiercz
Ray Reid
Waats’asdiyei Joe Yates
Conner Schumacher