10/22/2024
where do i begin? well when *i* was young, i held these albums closer to my heart than much of my own family. through all the adolescent growing pains and the ups and downs of not fitting in at school or in my own community, the music was always there for me. 20+ years later, it’s more evident than ever that a lot of us shared this experience.
it might surprise you to know that i wasn’t planning on attending WWWY this year at all for a variety of reasons, but just over a month out i had a discussion with that heavily pushed me to further pursue this fan-to-artist pipeline to new heights. donny coached me through everything every step of the way and none of this would have happened without him. that’s just the plain reality of it all and i will forever be so grateful for whatever in the world sparked this rockstar of a human being to believe in me so much and share his wisdom with me.
despite my growing list of concerns leading up to the big day (down to the last minute too), the pure adrenaline of pursuing some of my wildest dreams right alongside all of the love and support of so many dear friends from around the world (and especially from the love of my life ), whether they were in vegas or not, got me through it with surprising ease. there’s so many highlights to this weekend like being able to spend one of my best long distance buddy’s birthday together, running into so many musicians that i’ve loved and respected for years just out of pure luck, and being recognized positively left and right for my own artistic work amongst thousands of like-minded people.
i also most certainly want to thank + for entrusting me with the responsibility of representing their good name at an event as massive as .
if i had to choose one single value to walk away from this experience with: it’s to *always* shoot your shot! …mine just so happened to be from the photo pit. 📸
