The best part about the music industry is, undeniably, much more the former rather than the latter. In its most purest moments, it is a connection spanning two people and shared with crowds, of an uncomplicated expression evoking a physical and emotional response. The rest of it is the grind.
That’s the point that Aaron MacDonald has made on his latest single, “My Soul and Me,” as he asks exactly what you’re willing to trade to truly “make it” in the music industry.
Aaron MacDonald takes “My Soul and Me” back to his country roots— something he can do because he’s been working as a musician long enough to have something to revisit. Over the more than two decades that he’s been performing, he’s learned that chasing the dream doesn’t always guarantee success but by doing what you love you’ve got a solid chance at a modicum of happiness.
“This song just spits out thinking about our illustrious industry and what it’s like being pretty much a bar giggin’ musician since forever. There are so many of us in this exact boat, trying to ‘make it.’ But why? I’d be singing and playing regardless if I never went anywhere off this island,” explains MacDonald. “All that realization came out in this song. Kind of an autobiography for me but I’d bet for a lot of other East Coast musicians too.”
As MacDonald points out, most creatives will create compulsively, regardless of monetary success, and suggests that happiness is a matter of taking stock of our motivations.
“I think once you become OK with who and what you are, your place in this whole gong show, after that, it’s all about just creating and enjoying. Just doing it to do it,” says MacDonald.
“We get lost sometimes focusing on the other side of the game. That part used to really bother me. Once it clicked for me a few years ago, I’ve been at peace with this music industry.”
For MacDonald, finding contentment within the music industry came nearly a decade and a half ago, following the birth of his second child. Now the father of four, MacDonald says he needed to take a moment away from heavy national touring to focus on what mattered most. That decision meant getting away from the grind and playing a lot more locally.
“I realized there are just more important things than scrambling around trying to be this idea of what I thought a musician was,” explains MacDonald.
“After a year or two of that, I realized I just love playing tunes. Simple. Easy. Just writing and singing. Now I try to never confuse myself anymore about that. Just play to play. But everything and all those experiences do shape who you are and become. I guess I’m just more content with this version of myself.”
MacDonald says that being a musician is about doing it for you and your peace of mind and, now that he’s discovered that, he can’t get ever go back.