Wrapping up 2023
As 2023 wraps up, I want to say a big, juicy THANK YOU to each one of you who have shown love for my music this year! If at any point you took the time to stream my songs, follow me on social media, add me to a playlist, or interact with any piece of content I’ve published over the past 12 months, just know that every little interaction makes a world of difference for an independent artist like me. Whether you’ve been following me from day 1 or you’re new here, thank you for being on this journey with me!
Something about December naturally brings out feelings of nostalgia – whether it’s via old familiar holiday movies we start rewatching again, or through revisiting favorite songs we’ve heard countless times (correction: they are actually counted thanks to Spotify Wrapped). Whatever inspires it, this season always reminds me there’s true power in thoughtful reflection. 2023 held a lot of significant firsts for me, so I wanted to take this time to do my own personal “2023 Wrapped” and reflect on the debut year of my ALLYSE. project.
If I were to quantify the year and break it down into numbers, it might look a little something like this:
42,472 STREAMS
19,397 LISTENERS
5.4K SAVES
2K PLAYLISTS
22 LIVE SHOWS
10 SHOWCASES HOSTED
4 NEW RELEASES
2 VIDEO SHOOTS
1 FULL YEAR AS ALLYSE.
Numbers are cool. And I’m genuinely proud of what I’ve done in the very first year of my journey as a solo artist. BUT if I’m to talk about the quality and impact of this past year, my reflection is even richer and more nuanced –
2023 was all about saying “YES” to things that scared me. It was the year I finally said yes to finally going solo and starting my new artist project, after years of only playing in bands and ensembles. I said yes to shows and performance opportunities I wasn’t sure I was ready for, and said yes to meeting new artists, curators, and carving out new spaces for myself and other creatives. I made weird little parts of my interior world public and learned that unleashing your own creations out into the world can be truly terrifying. But for all the fear of potential embarrassment, rejection, or failure … none of it compares to the satisfaction and joy that comes with making something truly your own. Finally saying yes to my own unhinged creativity and having faith in the process of it all is the thing I’m most proud of this year.
Yeah, numbers are cool; they’re a helpful way to measure the distance you’ve travelled. But they’re also only half of the picture. Even more meaningful to me are the positive comments I’ve received, the relationships I’ve built, the faces of the people I’ve seen at shows, and the valuable lessons I’ve learned in this first year of my artist journey. All of these things make me believe that the reward of betting on yourself far outweighs the risks. Even if no one listened to my music this year (and I’m very glad you did!!), I would still proud of simply stepping into the spotlight and believing I have something to sing about.
