ION INDIE MAGAZINE December 2014, Volume 7 | Page 12

JB: Do you have a ritual you do to prepare yourself before a performance? What is the
biggest distraction to you on stage?
AW: I don’t have a specific ritual before I go on stage. I just make sure I’m physically
and mentally ready to take on whatever show I’m at. As far as distractions go, I don’t
usually get sidetracked by anything the audience does. But if I try to think about the next
song or something that isn’t a part of what I’m doing at that exact moment, that’s when
the mistakes start happening.
JB: Do you come from a musical family?
AW: NOPE! No one in my family is musical at all. I am the only one that sings or plays
an instrument. How that happened, I have no idea…
JB: Why Country? What do you consider the definition of today's Country music to be?
AW: I was raised on Country music, and it’s a permanent fixture in my life; it has the
ability to speak the messages I want in a tone that’s uniquely mine. Country has so much
soul and passion; it tells the stories of life in a way everyone can relate to and understand.
Today’s Country to me seems to have lost its true Country roots. Sure you can throw
some Steel and Honky Tonk guitar licks to make the music SOUND Country, but a lot of
modern day Country doesn’t have that soul, that passion, those life stories that we can all
say “I get it. I know and understand what you’re saying! I’ve lived it!” I wish for the day
that I can turn on a modern
Country radio station and
hear songs about family and
struggles and working hard-stories about life like TRUE
Country is--instead of just
partying and pick-up trucks.
That love for life is
something I always focus on
encompassing in my music
and why Country is so
special to me.