You know that moment when your thumb hovers over a button and your brain tries to talk you out of it? That was me, sitting on my couch, drafting a DM to one of my favorite artists, Ava McCoy. She had a show coming up in Brooklyn, and I figured the worst she could say was no, or, more likely, just leave me on read with her thousands of other unread messages.
So I shot my shot. I told her I loved her music, that I’d be in New York visiting family around her show date, and asked if I could photograph her concert in exchange for a ticket. Then I closed the app and tried to forget I’d ever done it.
She said yes.
I actually had to read the message twice. Then a third time. Then I screamed a little, in the way you do when something good and slightly unbelievable happens before you’ve had coffee.
The trip came together fast after that. I flew home to New York, partly to see my family, partly because I now had a very real reason to be in Brooklyn on a very specific night. I brought my sister with me, which honestly made the whole thing better. There’s something about getting to share a moment like that with someone who knew you back when you were just yelling lyrics in the car.
The venue was one of those tucked-away Brooklyn spots that feels like a secret even when it’s full. Warm lighting, exposed brick, the kind of room where the sound wraps around you instead of bouncing off you. I shot the show from the side of the stage, watching Ava do her thing up close, and somewhere between songs I forgot I was working at all.
After the set, I got to actually meet her. She was kind in the way you hope people you admire will be, the kind of kind that doesn’t feel performed. We talked for a few minutes, took a photo, and I tried very hard to act like a normal person and not someone who had been listening to her album on loop for months.
The whole night was just good. Good music, good company, good city, good reminder that the worst thing a stranger can do is say no.
So this is your sign. Send the DM.