Southern Heart in Western Skin is an eclectic blend of old-school Southern style and new-age hipness with a slight blues feel, complimented by angular yet poetic lyrics.

9 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, ROCK: Acoustic



Details:
Beginning in Los Angeles, spending time in Portland, following cheap rent to Boston, to finding love in Eastern Washington, 22 year-old Aaron Schroeder has called Kennewick his home for the past year. It is there he released his debut record "Southern Heart In Western Skin," an album soaked in traditional instrumentation (lap-steel guitars, cellos, accordions, violins, stand-up bass, harmonicas) that keeps pop sensibility as a solid foundation.

"I listen to a lot of classic artists like Bob Dylan, Leadbelly, Johnny Cash, Billy Bragg, but I also enjoy lots of modern acts like Belle & Sebastian, The Mountain Goats, Silver Jews. I mean, I grew up on Minor Threat and Bad Religion and I believe that simplicity in song-writing is the most honest way to go." Not only is Aaron a true fan of music but he is also an avid reader, citing authors such as Fydor Dostoevsky, Henry Miller, Haruki Murakami, Knut Hamsun as influences. "Often time my lyrics are adaptations of things I've read, including various Yiddish, Arabic, and American folk tales."

Aaron's ability to spin interesting lyrical tales shines on tracks like "Dead Rabbits" and "Devil's Lake". Musically, the songs range from folk story telling, to classic country, to pure indie Americana, to upbeat 60's pop. Blending these styles so effortlessly, yet still keeping a solid line between them all is what makes Aaron Schroeder such a successful young artist, and what makes "Southern Heart In Western Skin" a fantastic debut release from a promising new songwriter, no matter what city he ends up in.