Big artists debut at Lollapalooza with small names

What's in a name? Many artists that played at Lollapalooza this year shortened their name to make things easier for the LOL generation and stand out from the pack.

One of my favorites, not only as a performer, but now as a person is Ashe. Ashlyn Rae Wilson is one on the rise and named her album Ashlyn. She had a dream that no one would be at her set the night before and that dream definitely did not come true! The crowds were packed to see her at Lolla and also her incredible after show Lincoln Hall in Chicago.

Her stylist, Cristina Acevedo, had her dressed like a million bucks both days that she was in the media area with fashionable Stella McCartney shoes.

Speaking of name dropping, Ashe worked with songwriter Finneas after being on the same management roster as him and wrote a song with pop star Demi Lovato, who she still hasn't met yet. She's a huge Carole King fan and saw the musical Beautiful about the iconic singer's life as a signing present from her record label. Ashe said she cried the whole time!

Her song with Niall Horan “Moral of the Story” continues to make her career rise and she described him as “a down-to-earth, wonderful human.”

Ashe proved to be a wonderful human herself as she mentioned hitting the gay bars and possibly playing a gay music festival.

Renforshort continues the name game trend, just shortening it from Lauren. The 19 year old bisexual singer from Toronto, Canada started playing piano at an early age. She mentioned singing with her family around the house.

She saw Miley Cyrus play at Lollapalooza and cried after seeing the surrounding buildings lit up with Pride lights. She suggested that other people should let us live our lives and not be judgmental when viewing the LGBTQIA+ community.

Her favorite RuPaul Drag Racer? Katya, even though she also likes Trixie Mattel and Adore Delano, too.

Country singer Cam, short for Camaron, showed up in a sparkly body suit. Her middle name is Marvel, named after her grandmother. Cam wrote for Sam Smith and also toured with them. She talked backstage about writing the song “Maybe You're Right” for Miley Cyrus in the past.

Cam would like for more LGBT writers and voices to be heard in country music. “They are secretly giving to the industry and I hope the new generation will not be for that game anymore. We should want the best possible creators that are good. I want everybody in the door. It is our responsibility to make a place that's safe in Nashville for everyone.”

Singer Rence from Seattle, Washington dominated the BMI Stage on Saturday afternoon at Lollapalooza. He said he was excited to play beforehand. Rence is short for his middle name Lawrence.

He collaborated with Julian Lamadrid, who played earlier in the week and Noah Cyrus before he signed with Epic. He found something on the track “Expensive.”

His new song is called “Awooo!” He spoke of the track dropping on August 13, as the sound a wolf makes with a slow tempo overall.

For the future, Rence plans on playing for his mom's 60th birthday with his band and taking his career as far it will take him. During the pandemic, he has been producing for other artists and wants to delve into acting.

Rence opened for Christian French on his last tour. French stopped to chat backstage. The singer from Indiana said influences include John Mayer, Gavin DeGraw and Jason Mraz.

He recently visited Joshua Tree National Park to make an acoustic version of his song “Avalanche.”

French returns to Chicago September 21 and tours Europe in 2022.