Aaron Lewis, who came to fame fronting Hard Rock band Staind, is a Country singer now. This isn’t exactly a new thing. But it’s still a little weird, right?
Lewis made the switch nearly three years ago. To prove how “Country” he is, his first EP included a collaboration with George Jones, Charlie Daniels and Chris Young. The subsequent album, 2012’s The Road, is by no means bad. But Lewis is from Vermont, for Christ’s sake. His distinctive (and not at all Southern) voice resonates throughout the album clearly. One listen to a song off the album would make anyone who spent the early ’00s listening to Rock radio immediately ask, “Is that the dude from Staind?” With the acoustic and steel guitars, however, the album sounds similar enough to modern Country. It even got him invited to appear on The Grand Ole Opry.
Yet it feels trite. What he lacks in twang, he makes up for with the most cliché subject matter ever. On The Road’s first few tracks, Lewis sings about being a drifting, homesick musician and how he’s a proud American whose grandfather and father fought in wars. His blood is red, white and blue, y’all. Lewis knows what it takes to cater to a Country audience and he goes after it.
The ramblin’ musician is back on the road and making his way through Cincinnati. His show won’t suck. The decision is yours. We won’t judge you.
AARON LEWIS performs Wednesday, Jan. 22, at Bogart’s. Find tickets and more info
here .
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2014.
