Most of the time when people think of a hero, they go big. They think about someone with huge accomplishments or a person large in stature. We are fed on a daily basis who and what makes a hero. In many ways we get it right. There are those times though, that real living and breathing heros get overlooked. They don’t meet the made up criteria that we have set for them. Today I would like to point one out. She just happens to be the next artist on Feed the Band and the newest member to the Southern Fellow family.

On the outside looking in, Ava Paige is just a 15 year old girl, short in stature, that does not fit the mold of what we have set for heroes. In fact, If you did not know she was fighting cancer, you would just think she is another teenager trying to become a singer/songwriter in Nashville. Ava Paige is a normal teenager, but not a normal music artist. This is why she breaks the mold on what a hero can be.

As someone who has had to deal with a chronic illness, even at my age it is easy to let it define me,to let it set limitations on my life. It is a constant struggle that I was not fighting as gracefully as I would have liked to. That was until I started talking to this little dark haired teenager in Nashville. Ava Paige became my hero and made me a better person. She was the most unlikely source, I admit. I just wanted to support her music like I have done for dozens of other artists. With her, it was more than music. Ava Paige taught me how to deal with my illness by being a normal teenager.

It sounds strange, I agree.  Try to imagine though. A young person starting their life and career only to find out they have a life threatening disease. It’s not just that, it’s treatments and all that goes with it. This fight has brought down the biggest of men, yet Ava Paige fights to be everything she wanted to be before cancer. She is setting the terms rather than letting cancer do it. Winning the fight to be normal makes her a hero.

All of this is what makes her great at making music too. At 15, there was not much I took seriously. Ava Paige crafts music like a seasoned pro. Songs like “Ride” and her latest single “Hope Comes In” proves that she can create better music than artists twice her age. Music is not just a hobby for her, It is at the core of who Ava Paige is. If she did not make a single dollar from pulling guitar strings, Ava Paige would still be making music. She is all heart to the core and that makes for great music and even better heroes.