We recently connected with Ryan Ashe and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My brother and my parents come from two very different backgrounds. My dad is extremely analytically brained and as such has always been very business savvy, while my mom has always been a self starting creative. They do however, share a common ground in that they’ve both been highly supportive of us and our endeavors.

We’ve stuck together through the years. After graduating from University of Iowa, we both got our professional starts as production assistants on movie and commercial sets. We enjoyed the people we worked with because we had a lot in common with them. However, the artistic inspiration was lacking as we subjected ourselves for up to 15 hour days doing arduous work for projects for which we had little passion.

In the beginning, our dad was averse to us pursuing music as a full time career. Yet, after seeing how disenchanted we were with our current career paths, he gave us the okay to pour ourselves into our music instead. There were of course stipulations. He wanted us to be diligent and confident in our outreach to potential clients, and he offered whatever entrepreneurial advice that he could in the process.

Our mom has always been there to provide us with creative ideas to try to engage new fans and expand our reach. She’s also used her own artistic prowess to help us create some memorable visual artwork to help with our branding. We love our parents very much and have been incredibly blessed with their love and support.

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

My name is Ryan Ashe and I am the Vice President of Ashe Brothers Entertainment. My brother, Conor, is the President of our little organization. We have been interested in playing music for everyone we can ever since we were both elementary school kids. Playing guitar and rocking out just looked like the coolest thing on earth, so we both gave it a try at age 12 and never looked back.

We are The Ashe Brothers (a.k.a Common Allies) and have been playing around the country under the name Common Allies for the last 8 years. We got our start in the midwest and tried out the Chicago scene for a number of years until we decided a change in scenery was necessary. The move to Southern California couldn’t have happened at a worse time as we moved to Long Beach right as Covid 19 was just about to change the world forever. Yet, we have no regrets. We’ve made some awesome friends and gotten some great opportunities while living out here.

When it comes to what it is we do, we perform. We perform anywhere and everywhere we can from festivals and private parties, to putting smiles on the faces of seniors. We’ve been given notoriety for being a duo that sounds like a full band despite the fact that we have no percussionist, and our vocal harmonies usually manage to get some heads turning. We take a lot of inspiration from the Grateful Dead and want to show people that they can live the life they want to live whilst loving their work. After all, life is a beautiful adventure that needs to be fought for as well as experienced to the fullest. While we don’t necessarily solve any problems for clients, we provide a genuine form of escapism that allows them to forget about the many trials and tribulations of life for a while.

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

Your occupational endeavors, from our perspective, are an investment, not only in your finances but your self fulfillment. Self fulfillment is the main goal of creatives, because it allows you to leave your mark in a world that is becoming increasingly dystopian by the year. Doing this requires leaps of faith, which non creatives tend to find threatening. It’s a process that requires time, money, discipline, and overall skill building, which many find themselves opting out of to pursue more comfortable options. Creating structure for your daily life in itself entails lots of trial and error and can be discouraging at times. It is however an effectively educational and self-reflective experience.

“Sometimes, you gotta lose yourself, before you can find anything.” — Burt Reynolds “Deliverance” (1972)

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

This question threw us for a loop, but we’ll do our best to answer without sounding ignorant, for we have opinions.

NFTs to us are a bastardization to art as a whole. These projects started with noble intentions, seeking to promote inclusivity for artists and investors alike. However, quite predictably, these projects were quickly hijacked by scammers and swindlers looking to make easy money. The pattern of thinking which allows NFTs and AI art to reach mass audiences is a detriment to creativity. Artists already have enough difficulty making a name for themselves and this unfortunately is exacerbating the issue. Creatives invest their entire lives perfecting their craft, only to play second fiddle to cheaply made pixel art and smoking monkeys; not to mention, the value of said art is just as volatile as the currency with which it is purchased.

This is not to say that NFTs couldn’t be used for good in the artistic world. They could be a great opportunity to connect more intimately with fans, quite literally, through ownership. However, this will be difficult for independent artists to achieve and will likely be beneficial to more highly established brands.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.commonallies.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/commonallies
• Facebook: facebook.com/commonallies
• Youtube: @commonalliesofficial6730

Image Credits
Bob Vitti (June Lake Jam Fest Pic) Michael Webdell (Tie dye light promo pic) Judy Ashe (Wine bar photo)