Each Thursday during our end of year fundraising campaign we're sharing a letter from a local musician about how BFF.fm has benefited them in 2020. This week's letter is from Ainsley Wagoner of Silverware.

This year, BFF.fm lived out its values in new and tangible ways - to bolster local independent musicians and facilitate community around music and art. As a local indie musician, I've always appreciated the way BFF.fm sponsors shows (One Spot at the Rite Spot! Besties Bash!) and plays me and my musician peers' music on the air. But as soon as the pandemic stopped all live shows, BFF stepped in to connect us to the audiences we were missing, and to give us a platform to still create and be heard. I was so thrilled to have my band Silverware be a part of the band takeovers in March - when we were all still reeling from the world changing so fast. It gave a little glimmer of hope in the face of all those cancelled shows, and gave me and my bandmates a fun way to stay connected.

As the year wore on, Amanda and Eddie transitioned the Besties Bash to a digital platform and made another new way to perform and connect with audiences. Silverware was a part of the September Besties Bash, filming an in-home performance of the type of set I formerly would've played live. It was so much fun to have a show, to have a reason as a musician to practice and prepare for a performance, sharpening my skills and re-working songs. Then to have the chance as a creative person to think about how that was presented in video form, was another fun opportunity. Finally, to watch the broadcast on YouTube, witnessing the other bands and the audience that had tuned in, I felt the community and shared experience of a live show, that I'd been missing. I felt heard and seen and connected to both the BFF.fm community as well as learning about and connecting with other bands.

Everyone has a different reason for making music and then sharing it publicly. It's therapeutic for me to translate my lived experiences into songs, as a way to honor all the songs that have made me feel less alone. And that I can still do by myself, and derive a lot of value. But playing music in a communal setting is a big part of my creative practice as well. To perform makes me better at my craft, it connects me to other people, and it gives me the fuel to keep creating new work, when it can feel futile and pointless. BFF.fm made it possible for me to perform, connect, and be reinforced this year when all other options were closed. That means the world to musicians like myself. Thank you BFF.fm for everything you do for the musician community!

Ainsley

Here's Silverware at the BFF.fm Besties Bash:

Join more than 1000 of your friends and neighbors who also believe in the power of community radio to bring people together, even when we have to stay six feet apart, by making a donation to BFF.fm by December 31. BFF.fm/donate