We were lucky to catch up with Ashton Brooke Gill recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashton Brooke , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always knew I loved singing and playing music. I grew up in the small town of Livingston, Louisiana. I sang and performed in The Livingston Parish Talented Music and Theater programs and in my local church. My family was musical and it was always something that I just loved. Fast forward to college, I decided last minute that I would audition for American Idol. I figured the worst that could happen was they tell me no and I just finish nursing school. But, they actually gave me a yes. After that experience, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in music.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ashton Brooke Gill. I am a 24 year old singer/songwriter based out of the small town of Livingston, Louisiana. I have been singing ever since I can remember and I’ve always loved the arts! I never thought about singing professionally until I auditioned for American Idol my sophomore year of college. I was in nursing school at the time and randomly decided that I would try out since there were auditions being held in New Orleans. I received a golden ticket to Hollywood and had the privilege of competing with around 200 other amazing singers. Since then, I’ve been singing all over the country, writing my own music, as well as writing music for other people. I had an amazing opportunity to be in my first feature length film, this past year, called The Author. I play a Musician named Sara Tolleson! It’s set to release Feb. 2023 on streaming services, and I also had the opportunity to write music and sing on the soundtrack of the movie. I’m really proud of that accomplishment! It was such a God thing and honestly, a long story in and of itself, but I basically met the film writer on an airplane to Clarinda, Iowa. A plane ride that changed my life. And, I do hope to do more film related things in the future! I think one thing I’d like people to know about me, is that I love meeting people and hearing their stories. One thing, I love about music and performing is that I get to travel all over and meet people from different ethnicities, religions, backgrounds. I think it’s a cool thing to be able to talk to people and make them feel seen and loved. That’s a goal of mine. I just try to always be present and aware of the people around me whether I’m on stage or sitting on an airplane. You never know what people are going through, so just a smile or kind words could change a person’s day. In the future, I hope to perform and travel even more, write more music, and who knows?! Maybe even act in another movie!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, it’s getting to meet and have people relate to my music! That feeling when you’re sitting on stage playing a song, and you see someone in the audience with tears in their eyes because you wrote a song that they can relate to or even making people laugh with a song that you wrote. I love that music connects with people, and I get to play a part in writing that music.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I would say that if you find an artist that you love, I would say attend their shows to support them. You obviously, can’t make every show, but the ones you can make, it would mean the world to them to have that kind of support! Another big way, it to buy that $20 merch tshirt! A huge way artist make their money is through the merchandise that they sell. You can also support by adding their songs to your playlist! The costs it takes to have one song produced is expensive so doing anything like this is encouraging and supportive!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ashtongill.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashtonbrookegill/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ashtonbrookegillmusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ashtonbrookegill9327
• Other: Original music on all streaming platforms!

Image Credits
Credits to Cory Greenwood, Feske Digital Media, April Elizabeth Photography, and Hannah Taylor !