SHINEDOWN BREAKS OUT THE ACOUSTICS BEFORE THE AMPS

Aaron Lewis is currently working on his first solo album and he talks about writing new material onstage and improvising in front of his fans.

Shinedown is currently touring with 3 Doors Down in support of their album, Us And Them, and the band had a relatively quick turn-around from their Atlantic Records debut, , Leave A Whisper, in 2003. The CD didn’t get hot until 2004.

Vocalist Brent Smith said that creating songs comes second nature to him, and he writes mostly from his gut with an acoustic guitar. He said that most of Us And Them was written on acoustic guitar.

“A lot of it’s… I will say it’s pretty easy to do that. Well, I wouldn’t say it’s easy. Nothing is ever easy. I mean it all depends on what the day holds for you. We don’t necessarily wake up and say, ‘Today I’m going to write a song about my mother, my best friend, or this couch that I’m sitting on.’ It doesn’t really come that way. It either comes or it doesn’t. You try not to force it, but… Most of the songs are written on acoustic, so I think they transfer really well.”

Shinedown’s first single from Us And Them, “Save Me,” is currently a cross format smash for rock and the band is debating whether or not to take it to pop radio. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at an impressive Number 23.