3 on Thursday
Songs, stories, and things worth noticing. Every Thursday.
Thursday, September 24, 2026 · 3 min read
This week’s newsletter is made possible by Nicole Rubis, a longtime supporter and music teacher at Rocky Top Middle School in Thornton, Colorado. A few years ago, Nicole invited me to speak with her seventh-grade Music Explorations class about careers in music.
So this week, a little extra love to young people curious about making music—and to teachers like Nicole who help them see all the different ways they might find a place in it.
Thank you, Nicole.
1. THE STORY
Dear friend,
I’m using this new letter-esque format because I just read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I was drawn to the character Charlie, who writes these honest letters anonymously to a stranger he admires. Charlie is fifteen, however, at the start of the novel, and I am forty-five at the start of this paragraph.
I think the first thing I want to tell you is that I kind of hate myself right now for copying Charlie (well, really Stephen Chbosky, the author). Copying feels very unoriginal, and I know that’s obvious. But still, I want to give this a try because I was inspired, and sometimes copying is the first step. What’s that saying, “imitation before innovation”?
I think the hardest thing for me, and maybe you too, is being inspired and then never taking action at all. Never doing anything with that burst of emotion and excitement about life, when you suddenly start thinking about something in a different way. The mean voices come back so quickly to tell us we’re dumb and why not just give up and do something easier, like doom scrolling.
To tell you the truth, I’ve been reading so many self-help books for the last several years that I was forgetting about art books—novels, memoirs, etc. Don’t get me wrong, those self-help books have taught me a lot of practical skills, like how to win friends and influence people. (That was sort of a joke, but it’s also the name of a book with a lot of helpful stuff in it. It’s just an unfortunate title in this day and age.)
The hard part about self-help books for me is that I’m never not in need of more help. So when I get done with one, I realize there’s something else I need to work on. Sure, I love improving and I want to continue to grow as a person, but I don’t want to forget about where I’m at right now, and that place is okay.
Thanks for letting me write to you like this. I’m not sure how long it will last or if it will turn into anything, but it’s at the very least an honest glimpse into my life right now.
I hope you are getting along okay, and being easier on yourself. I hope that you get inspired and then just take one tiny step toward doing something about it.
Love,
Aaron
2. LISTEN
All ten tracks from the upcoming album are still in the Listening Room. If you haven’t listened through yet—or want to revisit one—you can hear them here. Listen here →
3. NOTICE
When did you last feel inspired—and what did you do with it?
Support
For more than twenty years, I’ve been able to keep making songs, stories, records, and other things because of people like you. If something I make adds a bit of good to your life, you can help keep this whole thing going.
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