My friend Aaron Carter and I spoke on the phone recently to discuss the charity fundraiser he will be performing at on March 26th in Ronkonkoma, NY.  All proceeds will go to Audrianna Bartol’s family.  Audrianna is a 4-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a high risk cancer that she is currently considered N.E.D. (No evidence of disease).  However, with this type of cancer, it tends to come back as it has before to Audrianna.  She won’t be considered to be in remission until she is cancer free for 6 years.  With her growing medical bills and many setbacks, the Bartol family’s wallets and hearts have been strained.

For ticket information to this fundraiser, please go to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=141776455876376#!/event.php?eid=141776455876376 or directly to: http://audriannabartol.blogspot.com.

Sandy Lo: Hey Aaron, how are you?
Aaron Carter: What’s up?

Sandy: Nothing much. Long time no talk. [Laughs] Aaron: What’s been going on?
Sandy: Same old. Now StarShine is operated through my personal website, which is cool because I get to brand my name a little more and tie in my books.
Aaron: That’s cool.

Sandy: What’s been going on with you?
Aaron: Nothing. Been working in the studio.
Sandy: Very cool. How’s the new songs coming?
Aaron: They’re coming along great.

Sandy: So let’s talk about the fundraiser on March 26th. How did you get involved with the Audrianna Bartol fundraiser?
Aaron: I found out about it through Gwen. Gwen is someone who’s been a fan of my music for a long time and I met her through concerts and stuff like that. She met this little girl who had neuroblastoma. And Gwen asked me if I wanted to be a part of it and of course I did.

Sandy: How important is it to you to get involved with charity and helping people?
Aaron: It’s very important to me. That’s what I’ve always done my whole life is get involved with charity and little kids who are sick. I’ve been around it my whole life. It’s been a very important thing for me to be a part of.

Sandy: What’s the most challenging thing about performing at an event—I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of unfortunate kids and things throughout your career… What’s the most challenging thing about that?
Aaron: I don’t really find anything to be challenging about it at all. When I’m there, I get as much support as I can and I try to do the best I can and treat them like a normal person. There’s nothing different about them; they’re just normal. We all go through life a certain way. I don’t really find it to be challenging to do anything charitable.

Sandy: What can we expect from your stage show at the event?
Aaron: Well, there’s going to be new songs; new material that people haven’t heard yet. New music is very important and it’s really what I’ve been focusing on.

Sandy: Awesome. When can we expect the new album? Are we any closer to a release date?
Aaron: Well, it’s still up in the air right now. We still have other deals that we want to place to release this album. Not only that, it’s got to be finished in the right way. The right songs… You know we can record a bunch of songs, but until the right songs are recorded, it’s not going to be ready for me to release. I’m just taking the time. I’m not rushing it. I want it to be as great as possible.

Sandy: What’s it like working with Johnny Wright and Doug Brown and having that team behind you?
Aaron: It’s amazing. I started off with Johnny so… Partnering with Doug… They’re great people. And there’s challenges. Not everyone in the whole world believes in me and it’s important to have the right team behind me.

Sandy: What message would you like to say to all the fans who have stuck with you over the course of your career?
Aaron: The message I’d like to send is that I appreciate their support. They haven’t given up and they still support. I’m still here and I haven’t gone anyway. There’s always going to be new artists coming and going…and it’s going to be a challenge. Keep their eyes peeled and their ears open for the album and when it does get released. When that does happen, it’s going to be a very exciting time for everyone involved. That’s the main focus right now for me—the album. Keep spreading the word that I haven’t gone anywhere. I’ve been very blessed. What matters the most to me in life is that people believe in other people—not even just believing in me, but having faith in other people and what they do. Hopefully more people can have faith in me. And if they don’t, that’s fine. I’m going to keep on truckin’.

Sandy: [Laughs] Good! Thank you so much for talking with me as always. I will see you at the event.
Aaron: What? Am I going to see you there?
Sandy: Yes, I will be there.
Aaron: Okay honey, I’ll see you then.

For more on Aaron Carter, follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamaaroncarter.

I will be live tweeting from the fundraiser, so make sure you follow me at: www.twitter.com/authorsandylo.