Brooke Ansley~ (New Single “Another Hit”)

Q&A (Brooke Ansley~ Brand New Single “Another Hit”):

1.    How have you grown as a country artist in 2019? It’s been a huge year for me personally.   I made a commitment to myself to follow my gut more, trust the process and have faith that things will work out exactly as they’re supposed to.  Music can be a tough and expensive business, and often times I find myself swimming against the current and getting burnt out – so I decided with this song, if doors weren’t opening, I wasn’t going to fight the current.  I’d just let it unfold on it’s own, and share my gift with the world in the only way I knew how – to sing it.  But I gotta say, my new philosophy was really tested with this song.  
I actually wrote the song in the summer of 2018 and recorded it in October 2018, but didn’t receive the final produced version until April of 2019 (nearly 10 months after it was written!).  There were times when I thought maybe it just wasn’t meant to be, but I reminded myself not to fight the process and allow things to work at the pace they needed to. It was a huge lesson in trust, but had it not taken that long for the song to be finished, I wouldn’t have had the music video footage to go along with the release.  So once again it affirmed that divine timing is always more magical and efficient than any plan I could have laid out.  
2.    How did you come up with the name of your brand new single “Another Hit?” It pretty much named itself.  There are so many meanings behind this song – there is the obvious metaphor which is that love is quite literally a drug, and every time we jump back into a relationship that has failed before, it’s like taking another hit of an addiction.  Then there is the suggestion that maybe part of living a balanced life is sometimes taking a hit from love – the idea of closing your eyes and jumping, even when you’ve been hurt before, is necessary at times.  I think it’s kind of fun that before hearing the song, the listener assumes that the title is referring to the song itself being a musical hit… it’s a little surprise for the listener as the actual meaning unfolds.  I love a good twist on a hook 🙂 
3.    What is your background story behind your latest single? Obviously another failed relationship (ha!).  I say that with a smile because the person who inspired this song is now a very good friend of mine, and I love him dearly, but we had one of those relationships that wasn’t sustainable.  I think almost everyone can relate to that feeling.  This song is for anyone who has a memory of a past love that was incredibly passionate but had to be let go of because it just wasn’t healthy.   Needless to say, he and I make way better friends… and great songs, apparently.
4.    What was your process in creating this new song? Over the last 3 years i’ve been developing a daily meditation practice, and this is the first song I’ve ever written from a place truly tapped into that meditative connection.  Before the hook came to me, I lit a candle, burned some palo santo, and took a deep breath. I sat in silence for a few minutes and just felt what I was feeling at the core of me, and what came up was “take another hit. we know where it’s goin, take another hit.”  And then the song just flowed from there.  It was pretty crazy how quickly it began to take shape.  After coming up with the concept and a few verse/chorus ideas, I met with two of my songwriting friends, Brad Wray and Dru DeCaro, and the guys helped me shape it into the song it is today.   

5.    Is there something you wish your fans would take away from this new single? I hope listeners get the message to stop judging themselves for the decisions they’ve made in the past.  This song is about being aware of the decisions we’re making, knowing we might hurt ourselves, but jumping anyway.  Falling in love anyway. Having the experience anyway, even if the recovery is painful.  Life is full of wrong turns and taking hits to the gut.  Just like Elizabeth Gilbert says in Eat Pray Love, “sometimes losing balance for love is part of living a balanced life.”   
6.    Was there any other artists or producers that helped to create this song? Bradford Hunter Wray and Dru DeCaro.  Brad is actually the person who pushed me to start writing my own songs 7 years ago — I rarely release or finish a song without running it by him first.  Dru is an amazing guitarist, producer, and songwriter and brings his own unique vibe to my music. Each of us has a different musical background, so we get this ecclectic sound every time we work together.  Also it’s cool because we’re all from Maryland, I like that we get to rep our home town 🙂  
7.    Is there anything else coming up with your music in 2019? I’m just going to faith bomb “Another Hit” into the ethers and go from there 🙂  We shall see…  

Website: https://www.brookeansley.com

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