Pop/rock recording artist Ava Aston is a conservative trying to make her way in a liberal dominated industry. Her new hit and conservative anthem is We The People. Her song I Carry You With Me deals with grief and loss and is dedicated to the military.
She has performed those two songs, as well as the National Anthem and God Bless America for The Faith & Freedom Coalition events as well as The Tea Party Patriots. I Carry You With Me has been featured in several independent films and took grand prize in a songwriting contest that had over 5,000 entries from across the globe. Her husband is a disabled veteran who was injured on base while serving in a support role for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her mom works as a National Service Officer at the Purple Heart Service Foundation that helps veterans.
The following interview with Ms. Aston was conducted by Jamie Glazov, Editor of FrontPage Magazine.
Glazov: Ava Aston, thanks for taking the time for this interview.
Let’s begin by talking about your background a bit. Tell us about how you got into music and also what makes you a conservative.
Aston: Thanks Jamie.
I started singing about the same time I started to talk. Music has always been a huge part of my life. I was kind of like a little Tina Turner in the movie, singing with the hairbrush in the mirror. As I grew up I started to hear melodies in my head. I did not play an instrument, so I started writing them down the only way I knew how, putting words in notebooks. As the songs came I discovered that as long as I wrote them down on paper they were there forever. I could pick them up at any time and sing them. So I have always just sung my songs to whomever I’m collaborating with – and they play the chords I’m singing either on a guitar or piano. I started taking voice lessons at an early age, and have been told that I have perfect pitch, so it’s easy for me to direct producers/musicians to the melody. I’ve been working on my craft ever since, and working at attaining my dream.
As for being a conservative, it is just how I was raised. My dad came to America from Greece with $20 in his pocket to live the American Dream. He worked hard and became a success. My mom came from a family that worked very hard, and she started working at 11-years-old cleaning houses to help out with the family. It is just something you are either ingrained with or not. Lately we seem to be living in the “Now Generation”. People want things NOW regardless of the consequences to themselves or others. I don’t really “get” a lot of what’s pushed on people as “entertainment”. I see it as nonsense that only encourages the “NOW” epidemic. I’m just a simple girl, I like to sing, write songs, act, love God and my country. I’m not really sure when it became cool to go on stage in your underpants. I know that being shocking sells, but as a conservative I feel you can be relevant, current, and still keep your clothes on, just saying.
Glazov: Share with us what We The People is about and what inspired you to write it.
Aston: Basically it came from a simple place. I saw the country I knew and loved being changed in a way that frightened me. Most of my songs are usually about something I feel or that has happened to me. I was tired of yelling at my TV screen – so I wrote about it.
My song is for every American, it not about left or right, it is about right and wrong. It is about that sacred document — the one thing that was meant to guide our country for all time, the Constitution. People have given their lives for the freedoms we have here. There are many people who do not realize the cost of what we have here in America. People get tangled up in rhetoric, fighting and being afraid to say things in order to be PC. If we are afraid to speak up about what really matters, we will lose our Republic. There are individuals who have a very different idea about America and want to fundamentally change it. If we do not stand up now and stop it now, America will be lost and we might as well be part of the EU. Trust me, my dad lives there and it’s not pretty.
Glazov: Can you talk a bit about I Carry You With Me?
Aston: I lost someone special to me, and wrote about it. My mom wrote a letter about this person that was read at their eulogy. It contained some of the lines about what kind of person she was and how she touched the people around her. I was talking with my producer about it and together we came up with the song.
Regarding the video, my husband Keith is a disabled veteran. He is also an aspiring actor, screenwriter and recently received his Master’s in Business in Entertainment and founded The Erimac Group; a creative consulting and production services company. I am fortunate to have him to help me with everything. He creates my website, branding and videos; other than the music he does it all. Since he is a veteran, and my mom works as a National Service Officer at the Purple Heart Service Foundation helping veterans, we are both very passionate about the military.
The men and women who make up our military give so much, ask for so little and do not receive the respect they so deserve and have earned. Since they more so than anyone have to deal with grief and loss – my husband came up with the concept to dedicate the video to them. He filmed and edited the video, and since he is a veteran, he also played the soldier.
I am honored that the song has been well received. It has been featured in several independent films and done well in multiple songwriting contests. It even took grand prize in a songwriting contest that had over 5,000 entries from across the globe, so it is very humbling. When I write a song, it is a little piece of me, and to know that it touches other people, can help them deal with hard feelings, it is a very touching thing as an artist.
Glazov: Your thoughts on the Obama administration?
Aston: It frightens me. I feel this administration believes what they are doing is good for America. However these beliefs are very different than mine.
I believe in American Exceptionalism. I believe we were all endowed by our Creator with talents and abilities unique to each of us, that we are free to think or be anything we desire and that we have that gift here in America like nowhere else on earth. I believe that hard work is rewarded and if you want something badly enough that you should work hard for it and go after it with everything you have inside of you. America is a place where dreams of all kinds can come true, unlike other countries in the world. America is a country that good men and women fought for and gave their lives for.
I believe that if we do not remain true to the Founding Fathers and to the Constitution then we will lose our Republic. I also believe in virtue, unlike those who feel it is ok to do whatever you want as long as it is not hurting someone else. Unfortunately that is not the case, for in every aspect of human life, if there is no virtue the people perish. This has been proven time and time again in history. I also believe in charity, but I do not believe it is the government’s role to order me to engage in it or to have a bazillion federal programs and red tape in order to do so.
I believe the Obama administration has a very different idea about what America is than I do and are trying to change it. This does not make them “bad” people nor does it make me a bad person because what they are doing scares me. It simply means we do not share the same beliefs. This country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, and a set of guidelines and standards that has worked for centuries. When politicians on either side mess with that, it is not good for America.
Glazov: Ava Aston, thanks for taking the time to talk. Best of luck for you in your music career.
Visit her website at avaaston.com/welcome.html.
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