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| Photo: Jim Wright |
When it comes to country music, Aaron Lewis is a traditionalist. He
finds inspiration in classic albums by legends like Waylon Jennings,
Hank Williams Jr., George Jones, Charlie Daniels, Johnny Cash, Merle
Haggard and Willie Nelson — all of which he name-checks in his current
upbeat single “That Ain’t Country.”
In the lyrics, he sings that
today’s hit-makers are “full of tales of good times and happy endings/my
life ain’t like that/so I’ll keep listenin’ to the old songs that my
granddad used to play/full of pain and heartbreak and desperation and
the ones that got away.”
Lewis first came to prominence during the late ’90s as the vocalist
for Staind. A mainstay on now-defunct Inland Empire radio station
KCXX/103.9 FM, the alt-metal band racked up four platinum CDs and a
dozen top 20 singles through 2012.
The group suddenly came to a crossroads when Lewis got tired of reliving childhood dramas and wanted to try something new.
Having
grown up in rural Massachusetts (where he still lives with a wife and
daughters), country music is at Lewis’ core. Debut EP “Town Line” was
well-received and reached No. 1. The single “Country Boy” featured Jones
and Daniels; its video even received a CMT nomination. Full-length
follow up “The Road” made a stronger impression and Lewis played the
2012 Stagecoach Festival.
Now the singer is back with a new label (Dot Records, distributed by
heavyweight Big Machine) and new producer (Buddy Cannon, whose resume
includes George Strait, Haggard and Jones) for a solid second album,
“Sinner.”
Last month, it topped Billboard’s country albums chart and
boasts impressive guests including Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and
Vince Gill. Everything was recorded in a brisk 16 hours.
“We
wanted to do it the old-fashioned way, where you had to knock it all out
in one take,” Lewis said. “The experiment really worked well.”
Krauss, a multiple Grammy winner with Union Station and Robert Plant,
arrived to harmonize on one song, then ended up contributing to several
more.
“She liked the record so much that she kept calling to ask
if she could come in and sing again, which is just amazing,” recalled
Lewis. “I’m blessed and so lucky for her to have been a part of it and
appreciate what I was doing.”
The same held true for Union
Station’s multi-instrumentalist Dan Tyminski, the singing voice of
George Clooney in the 2000 film satire, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
“He’s all over the record, playing guitar and singing backup
harmonies,” noted Lewis, who still can’t believe his fortune getting to
work with such artists. “I pinch myself every day.”
Despite the
high caliber of talent around Nashville these days, Lewis had a hand
penning nine of 11 tracks on the new album. It was important to put his
own personal stamp on the affecting tunes about redemption and
spirituality.
“I think a little something is lost in translation when
the person who is delivering the song did not write the song,” he said.
The stark remake of Chris Stapleton’s “Whiskey and You,” off 2015’s award-winning “The Traveler,” was a last-minute addition.
“I
heard that one night, having had a little bit too much to drink, and it
completely flattened me. Chris had no intention of releasing the song
as a single, so when we got finished with song No. 9 (in the studio) and
we needed song No. 10, I suggested it because I had been covering it
already (live). Chris said he’d be honored for me to cut the song.”
Other
standouts are the swampy title track duet with Nelson (among several
featuring wicked harmonica work from Mickey Raphael of the Red-Headed
Stranger’s touring band); a quiet, acoustic guitar-based “Mama,” the sad
“Lost and Lonely,” “Stuck in These Shoes” and twangy “Northern
Redneck.”
The latter is a response to people who feel New Englanders like Lewis can’t write authentic country music.
“It
came from everybody north of the Mason-Dixon pretty much being excluded
out of every single country song ever written — especially lately. That
was the inspiration. Most of my dad’s side of the family is as Podunk
as it gets.”
Lewis’ teenage girl Zoe handles lead on Bruce Robison’s “Travelin’ Soldier” (a No. 1 hit for Dixie Chicks).
“I
just wanted to create a memory with my daughter that no one could ever
screw up. I’ve heard her sing that a thousand times around the house … I
was an extremely proud papa [afterwards].”
By all rights, “Sinner” should prove to those whose question Lewis’ transition from rock to country that he’s the real deal.
“It’s
taken five years, three records and a whole bunch of sold out shows
before anybody finally took notice and realized that I’m not going
anywhere. I grew up on country music. It was the first music I ever
heard. Get over it. I am country and I’ve been country my whole life.
Just because I had a career in the rock business didn’t make me any less
country.”
City National Grove of Anaheim
When: 8 p.m. Thursday.
Address: 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim.
Tickets: $42.
Information: 714-712-2700, www.citynationalgroveofanaheim.com
Riverside Municipal Auditorium
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
Address: 3485 Mission Inn Ave.
Tickets: $32.
Information: 951-779-9800, www.riversidelive.com, www.aaronlewismusic.com.
My article originally appeared at sbsun.com and dailybulletin.com.
