FEATURE // Why Do I Write?

My name is The Hildreth Avenue, and I’m an acoustic singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. I started writing music seriously because of a promise I made to my grandfather. On September 21st, 2013, my grandfather was brutally attacked/assaulted and put in a coma. I spent four days by his hospital bedside, begging the heavens that he would wake up from his coma and come back to me. Growing up without a father, my grandfather was always the closest thing to a father figure I had. On the 24th of September, when the doctors pronounced him brain-dead, I said my last words to him. I swore to him that I would make his song well known to the world, no matter what it took.

My inspiration to write music is my undying thirst for self-mastery. I’ve wasted many years locked in painful mental loops of loneliness, nostalgia, regret, fear, and disappointment. I’ve lost so much time that I could’ve spent with my family, pushed away so many people, and created so much more suffering than I needed in my life. It’s these hard lessons I learned that inspire what I have to say. I believe true artists write from a place within themselves that is authentic and vulnerable.

There are three songs off of my upcoming Discourse EP that I am particularly proud of – This Is Your Life, Don’t Lose Yourself, and By Your Side. This Is Your Life is a song about being too scared to move on from a life that keeps you from being the beautiful soul that you’re meant to be in this world. Don’t Lose Yourself is a song that I ended up dedicating to my uncle who drank himself to death. It’s my message to the listener to never lose sight of who you are because there are people who need you more than you realize. By Your Side is a song I wrote in dedication to my grandmother, mother, aunts, the girl I love, and my best friend. This song is my last words to my loved ones if I were to die right now.

When you hear my music I want you to feel the appreciation, the nostalgia, the longing for love, the regret, the hopefulness, the warnings, and the reminder that you are powerful. I want you to realize that my music is directly speaking to you. My songs are a personal message to show you that I understand, and that you’re not alone.

Find out more about The Hildreth Avenue at his website, www.thehildrethavenue.com.