AARON LEWIS OF STAIND TALKS ABOUT HIS SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR

Aaron Lewis brings his powerful vocals and acoustic guitar on the road and he talks about writing new songs on stage in front of an audience

Aaron Lewis, the powerful vocals of Staind, brings his solo acoustic tour on the road while the band takes some time away from touring and recording. On this solo tour which hits North American cities from coast to coast, Aaron brings his talent for improvisational song writing along with the voice that has helped Staind sell over 15 million albums. During the show, Lewis takes requests from his fans and has at times ventured into his catalog of cover songs ranging from Tool to Alice in Chains to Pearl Jam, always with a few surprised fit in.

We caught up with Aaron just before his show at the Wiltern Theater to talk about finding comfort in discomfort on stage, mostly when improvising in front of an audience.

“I don’t know. I don’t ever know what to expect. I don’t go out there with any plan or any set list. I just kind of wing it. I guess I get a little bit of comfort from the discomfort. It tends to be a fun evening because there’s no structure to it whatsoever.”

We also talked with Aaron about not just performing songs onstage, but actually improvisational songwriting on stage, which was how he wrote one of Staind biggest hits ‘Outside.’

“They kind of just came out. I wrote ’em on stage while I was playing them and then kept playing them. I do that type of stuff. I’ve always done that. ‘Outside’ was done that way in front of 14,000 people in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi. I had a chord progression and I had a chorus, and the rest of it I was just making it up as I went.”

So with a few shows under his belt and many more dates around the U.S. to follow, is there plans for Aaron Lewis to record a solo album before getting back in the studio with Staind?

“Uh, it’s the second actual tour, but I’ve been doing the shows for four or five years now. I was doing it before I was ever in the band. Inevitably I would think that there would be something coming out. Anything’s possible. There’s definitely some songs I’ve been playing that don’t have a home.”

Aaron Lewis welcomed former Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst on stage recently in Los Angeles. It was Durst that brought Lewis and Staind to the attention of record label bigwigs. Lewis brings his solo acoustic tour on the road with dates extending until October 3rd in Leemore, California.