- Even Lady Gaga had a past before her fame
One of my favorite things people say to me is, "Don't forget me when" or "Oh great, I can say I knew you when." Or like what I call pre-recognition which is when I go into a public place and I see people look at me like they recognize me or something. The reason is because to me I feel like they see something in me that means I will one day be "there" and have made it. The trick is getting there. We are all on a journey in this life and none of them are exactly the same. Just like none of us have the same fingerprint we all have just as unique a path in life.
Then there are the questions that really get me like when people say to me, "Why don't you get on American Idol" or "you should be on the X-Factor" and my favorite, "You should call Ellen Degeneres. I hear she is always looking for new music and even has her own record label. Maybe she can put on TV like that Bieber kid." Then I am left standing there like a deer in the headlights thinking, "Really? Really? Thanks I never thought of that, thanks for the tip" and of course I have to hold my breath and count to 10 before I either flip my Greek Noggin as I play the scene in my head as I grab the person and shake them profusely.
So, because these two sets of questions seem to be what I hear most of when it comes to my overall career I wanted to talk about what it means to be an overnight sensation. So welcome to Ava's Before they Were Rock Stars 101.
Each and everyone of us know, or at least I hope we know, that before anyone becomes famous and successful as a celebrity rock star they all were something before they hit it. They all (aside from rebecca black and Justin Bieber) had to have their share of no's and tons of rejection and of course failures. It's like Thomas Eddison said, "I have not failed; I've found 10,000 ways that won't work." So, most of us have to work to get to the top. Or if you are super lucky or fortunate like Justin Bieber or even Brittney Spears to have had parents who helped make it happen or of course have the money to know the right people... otherwise it takes a bit of struggle to get to the top.
I know some will be surprised but even Lady Gaga aka Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta had her failure before her fame. She was signed to a label and dropped, then picked up and now she's everywhere.
- The Goo Goo Dolls... they will never ever leave my ipod.
Take the Goo Goo Dolls (one of my very favorite bands of all time). Back in the 80's my chiropractor who now cracks my back actually opened for them with his own band. He was shocked to hear that they actually made it as he thought they were terrible back then. They were about to hang it up before some college radio station out in California picked up one of their songs, "Name" and the rest is history.
Look at Garth Brooks. He was washing dishes and working odd jobs in Oklahoma for years to pay for his back and forth trips to Nashville TN. He was told "no" by so many labels then finally one day, after x number of years he became the highest grossing artist of all time. He has had more number one hits than I can remember.
Shania Twain is considered still to be one of the most beautiful and sexy country singers of all time. She is also one of the highest grossing artists of all time as well. Yet before she even hit the stage she was living in her car. That woman literally walked on broken glass to get where she is, she is one tough cookie.
So, unless you are fortunate enough to have the $100+k investor who is willing to back your music project and walk you into Universal or Sony, you have to be on a Reality TV series, be a viral YouTube sensation or do it the old-fashioned way, like me. The reason I say this is that someone recently was misinterpreting where I was in my career. Yeah, I have nice social media presence but all of what people see is because I am blessed to have a sweetheart who supports all of my dreams. He literally creates everything (almost) for my music career. So it's not like I have a machine behind me. It's quite literally just the two of us.
That is why when people are asking about my Kickstarter Campaign I find they are confused. Many are surprised to find out that I am not sitting in my mini-mansion counting my zillion digital downloads. Nope, not yet at least. But what I am doing is connecting with my fans the best I can. It takes a lot of money and hard work pushing through this challenging career as a singer. So, when I was given the opportunity to record my "first" true album that captures me to the fullest extent I jumped at the chance. That is why I created this campaign. This campaign will give me the chance to finally have the one album of songs that I really feel will catapult my music career to the next level.
So, it's essential that all of my fans, friends and family get behind me and pledge even as little as $1 toward this project. Without having this project funded, I will have to pay all out of pocket to put this album together. Unfortunately I don't have a financial backer and I am not on a record label. So it will take a lot longer to get this project done. So, if you truly are a fan and you really want to see me get to the next level and trust me when is say, I want to pay it forward, then I need you to get behind me to Kickstart my album. Then you can actually say, "I knew her when" and I can say, "I won't forget you when I get there."
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