Aneesa Sheikh’s fateful encounter with music began by chance. At eight years old, Aneesa fell in love with her sister skating to Santana’s, “Black Magic Woman.” From then on, Aneesa began taking lessons on a classical 3⁄4 sized guitar and joined the youth choir. At the age of fourteen, she began to write songs on her grandfather’s twelve-string guitar. Soon after writing her first three songs, she was invited to perform on the “Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour” in Lexington, KY. Aneesa’s love for music doesn’t stop there. She founded the non-profit organization, “Music4M.I.R.A.C.L.E.”, which aims to spread music therapy. Her non-profit venture ensued as a result of her fathers declining health — a testament to her sharp and compassionate nature. Please read our exclusive interview below to learn more about Aneesa Sheikh.

Where are you based?
I am currently based in a suburb of Detroit: Bloomfield Hills, MI.

You released your debut single, “Bad Thing," earlier this year. Can you take us through the start of your music journey. What prompted you to start making music?
I have always loved music. When I was eight years old, I began playing the classical guitar and eventually started singing in a children’s choir. Being the youngest of several older siblings, I would hear my older siblings listening to all different types of music and, so, I was able to explore many styles. I knew music was what I wanted to do when I realized my interest and connection to singing and playing the guitar never faded over time.

Lexington, Kentucky is known as, the "Horse Capital of the World," since it is home to the Kentucky Horse Park. However, you grew up in an ice rink, training in competitive figure skating. Do you feel your environment played a significant influence on your career trajectory? Did it help develop your musical sound?
Ice skating in Kentucky is very recreational, which is why my family moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the mecca for ice skating, to train in an environment that would help foster our skating goals. I definitely feel that being in a competitive atmosphere where skating was all around me, even at school, significantly influenced my career in a positive way. Even at school, other skaters and I were able to have a reduced schedule, to accommodate for training sessions during the school hours, while taking online courses to compensate for the missed classes. Skating helped develop my musical sound because it taught me to pay attention to the details. In skating, my routines would be choreographed to hear hidden beats and harmonies and accent them. I have carried that into my music by making sure to discover the same sounds that would otherwise not be incorporated in my songs.

Let's talk about your single, "Bad Thing". What is the story behind this track?
Bad Thing was a song that the Jetsetter Music Group, Danny Jay and Eric Johnson, produced as part of a scholarship they gave me at the IMTA Convention in New York last summer. It is about the observation of a toxic relationship many teens may face.

You have a new song coming out called “Tough Times”. Can you tell us a little bit about this song?
My new single “Tough Times” I wrote with Justine Blazer, with the message that, ok “Tough Times Don’t Last, But Tough People Do.” My father always told me this growing up and, so, when Covid-19 hit, I was no longer able to visit my dad at his nursing center because there was a no visitation policy in order to protect everyone there. I noticed that through this tough time, being away from all his kids, he was facing losing hope, and whenever I Zoom called him, he would want me to sing for him. I wrote the song “Tough times” to remind him of the message he always told me, through a song, because I knew he would actually listen to me if I sang it to him.

You founded your non-profit organization, “Music4M.I.R.A.C.L.E” this year. Can you tell us a little bit about it and what inspired it?
Music4M.I.R.A.C.L.E. is an acronym for Music, Inspires, Reaches, Accepts, Captures, Loves, Equally. When my father had a stroke, music gave him hope. It not only helped him physically with his speech, but it gave him his light again that was dimmed from the effects of a stroke. My non-profit focuses on bringing musicians together to sing at charities such as St. Judes, The Healing Notes Foundation, and Motts Children’s Hospital.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you find music to be therapeutic?
Singing to patients, whether it is virtually or in-person, gives them a sense of security because they are alone, scared, and are constantly told by medical staff that everything will be okay, but music gives them the feeling that it will be okay. Songs last a couple of minutes, but those few minutes make the patients forget and just feel.

You are involved in a large amount of humanitarian work, including organizations like Woodward Hills Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, The Healing Notes Foundation Open, and many more. What inspired you to get involved with these organizations?
Music therapy. I believe the best way to give back is to do something you have a passion for. Music is my purpose. I utilize my talents as a singer/songwriter to give back to a cause that comes from my heart.

Are you able to work with your organizations during these times? Have you found other ways to connect with people during shelter in place?
I am able to work with these organizations and hospitals during this time. Music therapy is needed more than ever, right now, mainly because patients are not allowed to have visitors, thus leaving them feeling lonely, scared, and anxious for everything to go back to normality. I have been Zooming and Skyping patients to communicate and sing to them at several different institutions.

How are you staying positive during these times?
I am taking everything day by day. Right now, I am extremely busy with college preparation, music, Miss Teen USA preparation, and day to day life. With everything up in the air, in regards to my activities, I look at every day as its own day and try not to live in the past or the future, but the present.

What is your motto in life?
“Tough times do not last, but tough people do.” Also, “live, love, laugh”, because life is too short not to do that.

To learn more about Aneese Sheikh, please follow her via the below platforms.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ-kz5jRht4
Instagram: aneesasheikhofficial
Facebook: aneesasheikhofficial

Photography by Annette Navarro.

Aneesa Sheikh: The Miracles of Music