Meet Ash Relics

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ash Relics a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ash, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?

I am a professional musician and songwriter. It has been many years in the making. Lyrics were the hardest for me. I had to try and fail a lot before I landed on something good that I could keep and share. It was sort of excruciating emotionally to keep trying and to be so unhappy with the results, especially when the nature of the work requires a certain level of personal vulnerability. I had many periods of avoidance, or even giving up, before I would come back eventually and try again. I found myself in a situation with a relatively good amount of time and freedom, living overseas in a dorm style environment with rent included in my job compensation. I decided to use this time to really make a major effort to get somewhere with my songs. Still I struggled. One thing I tried that seemed to help was taking on a sort of ascetic lifestyle, fasting from many habits and pleasures. This seemed to sensitize me, as I experienced some things more viscerally, and was able to be in the moment more. I was also learning a bit of the solo sport of skateboarding. One spring day after a session of skating with my friends, a song just came to me, nearly effortlessly and it was good! And didn’t need much more work. This was a revelatory moment for me, as I had to learn to let go and allow the song to come through. The struggle was real, but it was when I began to release my attachment to the results that the results I wanted finally came. It’s a bit of a paradox, and continues to be a delicate balance as I keep working at it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. I earn my living performing full time in the Lake Tahoe area. My website is at ashrelics.com and I have music out on all of the current music streaming services. I play many styles, from country and bluegrass to blues and hip-hop, and although my work has a broad range, it all is distinctlyy own personal style. A few years ago I invented a genre mashup of blues and hip-hop, where I play improvised blues jams over hip-hop beats, on guitar and other instruments, recently focusing on saxophone. I also play my original songs in a bluegrass context, with a band, as well as collaborations with other bands and artists.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Stubborn persistence.

Even though in the early years I would definitely lay down and give up, I always eventually came back to it.

2. Authenticity.

I probably kept coming back to it because it is truly what I love, and it involves an expression of deeper aspects of myself and my life.

3. Encouraging others.

I have always encouraged and tried to uplift other musicians, perhaps at first out of a desire for similar encouragement but eventually noticing the very real personal rewards from doing so.

My advice to others early in their journey is to go for it and not settle for a sideline position instead. I spent a lot of years thinking being a musical artist professionally was a sort of pipe dream and I would be happy doing some related job, like audio technician or something. The whole time I could have been developing my art. I think we all have to go through an early period where we are not as good as we would like to be, and that can lead to a type of imposter syndrome that can stifle us. I would say shoot for the stars and keep trying when you inevitably miss at first.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

A wildfire destroyed my family’s home and all of our belongings a few years ago. We were so blessed with a wonderful community that has helped us recover from that, but in our new home I have had to make my studio in the garage which gets pretty cold in winter and can be hard to get myself into to produce new recordings or write songs. I use a space heater and sometimes get the house heated up enough to leave the door open and get the garage warmed up a bit. I am extremely grateful for the gear I have to be able to produce, most of which had to be replaced after the fire. I also struggle to find time and funding to promote my work and tend to prioritize writing and producing. I am so grateful, also, to be able to make my living performing, which brings me great joy and also has made me a much better player and singer. I maintain a website and social media accounts and release my work on official music streaming platforms through distribution services. Last year (2024) I committed to releasing a single every week, and accomplished this. It pushed me to release older recordings that I may have doubted but which I do actually like, and made my public catalog even more eclectic, which is a delightfully accurate representation of myself and my art, but not not necessarily the best for marketing and promotion.

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Marshauna

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