To be honest, before March of this year, I’d never heard of Aaron Lewis. When the concert was announced, I was iffy on whether I was going or not.
Then a friend started telling me who Aaron Lewis was. When she said he was the lead singer for Staind, I still didn’t know who he was, although I had heard of the band. At the time though, I still didn’t take much stock in really wanting to go to the concert. I guess in the back of my mind I had the “just another rocker coming over to country”, attitude going on.
Then, early one morning on my way to work, I heard this song; the voice was deep and gravelly, and the song was just packed full of imagery and emotion. It was one of those rare songs that I took an instant liking to. As I was listening, I heard the line, “a country boy is all I’ll ever be”. That’s when I realized I was hearing Aaron Lewis for the first time. My friend had told me his country single was called “Country Boy”; so I was pretty sure that was what I was hearing.
I got to work, checked KUPL’s playlist for the time I heard the song; sure enough, it was Aaron Lewis. That’s when my interest was really peaked…I decided I really needed to go to this concert.
Originally Aaron was to be at the Ponderosa Lounge on May 26th; due to the tornadoes in the Midwest though, Aaron was stuck back east and couldn’t get a flight to Portland. The show was rescheduled for May 31st, and Aaron was able to make it that day.
Before the show, I was lucky enough to be part of the meet and greet for Aaron Lewis. Since the friend who had told me about him was also at the show, I took her with me to the meet and greet. It was so much fun to watch her meet Aaron; he’s one of her favorite artists. And the picture that was taken of the two of them is just so cute! I’m hoping she doesn’t mind me sharing it here. (I’m pretty sure she won’t, since she has it as her profile pic on Facebook right now.)
When it was my turn to meet Aaron, I told him how I’d heard of Staind; though I admitted I didn’t know that much about the band. I also told him the first time I heard “Country Boy”, I thought to myself that he sounds more country than some of the country artists nowadays.
I also asked if he came from a musical family and he said yes; he first started playing and singing when he was about 5 years old, and had learned from watching his father.
What I really noticed about Aaron, with others, and with myself is, he took the time to genuinely connect with each person. He spoke with everyone, answered questions, joked around, and more. Aaron just seems to be a really warm, caring, friendly person. And for as shy as I can be, he was also really easy to talk with.
When it was time for the concert to start, local musician, Kurt Van Meter, came on stage first to do an acoustic set. Kurt seems to be one of those guys that can sing anything, and make it sound good. I thought he was a good lead in to Aaron Lewis.
When Aaron took the stage, he began his acoustic set with a Staind song. Throughout the evening, he played songs from his EP, “Town Line”, and also did some cover songs, one being “What Hurts The Most”, originally done by Rascal Flatts. He ended the show with his hit, “Country Boy”.
Other than what I had been told previously about Aaron Lewis, I chose NOT to listen to Staind, or dig into any more details about him before the concert. I wanted to go to the show, and just experience it for the first time; without the possibility of preconceived notions. I’m glad I did.
What I heard on that stage when Aaron performed was that same gravelly voice I’d heard on the radio. What I also heard, and saw, was a man with so much power and emotion in his voice and music, it just draws you in.
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