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

Ian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Working with my voice teacher Dr. Tom Weis at Carroll University! He really helped me grow and develop my voice in a way where I could sustain singing in a healthy way for a 3 hour vocal session in the studio, or a 3 hour show with The Last Bees. He helped me find my natural tone, and when I graduated, he helped me pivot from classically trained singing to the more straight-style singing with no vibrato more commonly found in the pop/rock world.

Ian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

There’s an undeniable scent of nostalgia in the air. Our distraction-filled digital lives have us craving something that is organic, real and spontaneous.

The Last Bees was a spontaneous experiment that soon took on a brand of its own. Ian Ash was inspired by the Led Zeppelin throwback of Greta Van Fleet, and the 60’s throwback of artists like JD McPherson, Megan Trainor and Pokey LaFarge. One cold winter in early January, Ash finished recording “Can’t Wait” at his home studio in Wisconsin. It was a track with an early Beatles approach, fitting, as Ash is a self-proclaimed Beatles geek with a vocal resonance resembling John Lennon.

Ian buzzed down to Chicago to play the track for his manager, who posited the question- how about making a collection of songs like this?!…

So, Ash went back to his hive and did just that. He wrote, produced and arranged songs that hark back to a time not so different from our current culture; a time when people also needed positive, uplifting release from the vicissitudes of a world changing so quickly.

The melodies were sweet as honey, but the vocals and instruments had an edge that stung like a bee. And thus, The Last Bees was born.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

We did a little bit of everything, but really we didn’t take any shortcuts. We posted regular content, engaged with our audience, and kept at it. We paid for some advertising, but most of our growth happened organically when we kept regularly inviting people who came to our shows to like our pages. My advice to those starting out would be- make your posts personal! Good branding happens when you show how unique you are.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Keep educating kids in the arts and music, and make sure that you regularly assess the value of the creative arts in their lives. Don’t cut corners when it comes to paying for recorded music, live music, music lessons, or keeping music in schools.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelastbees.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_last_bees
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelastbees
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/the_last_bees

Image Credits
Ian Ash (alone)- photo by Dan Kazinski Group photo by Rebecca Grenier