When I mention the phrase “one-man band” what do you think
of? A lone performer, instruments strapped to every available limb, creating a
sound full of off-beats and staccato rhythms?
A street busker with an overturned cap
singing for his supper?
That’s not what I mean at all. Meet Aaron Goldstein, local
music sage. Ask him for his credentials and he’ll hand you a business card. This
guy has a resume longer than… well that’s a tough one. Usually in a situation
where I try to exaggerate the length of one’s resume I use Aaron as the punch
line. Time for some new material, I s’pose. This revolving door performer has
been in/is a member of an infinite number of musical projects. Solidly, he’s a
member of local heavy alt-country band Jawbone (a name derived from a release
by weighty (ha) influence ‘The Band’), and plays steel and electric guitar as
one of Dan Griffin’s Regrets. Goldstein is also a founding father of the Hamilton collective the
Surly Young Bucks, and boy are they surly. Their on-again-off-again status led
me to list them separately from the solid list. I think they’re at on-again,
but don’t quote me.
“I like to lend my talents,” says Aaron Goldstein, “I’ve
always been more of a side man then right up front.” For someone with this much
skill, he’s modest too. “Everyone has something to offer” he says. This mantra
keeps the Bucks going, as their roster revolves quite a bit.
Aaron can also be found gigging around town with locals Matt
Paxton and Ben Somer when not performing, recording or producing with (hold
your breath) Arkells, Deromantic, Drew Smith, The Foreign Films, Junior Boys,
(still with me?), Shotgun Jimmie, The Spades, Stumbleweed and Tom Wilson. And
he used to play in a Led Zeppelin cover band.
What could be next for Mr.Goldstein? A solo project of
course. Class, please welcome Espanola our new teacher in the subject of good
ol’country with a hint of ragged rock’n’roll.
“I’m warning you,” Goldstein, er, warns, “This new stuff is
very Gram Parsons...drunk Gram Parsons”. Espanola is a new venture for the freshly solo artist. The idea of working on his own had always kicked around in
the back of his mind, but was never a priority.
“I only really decided a couple of weeks ago to do this [Espanola] because I was offered a gig
and realized a member of every one of my other bands was out of town that
weekend,” says Goldstein. So he sat down with some notebooks, and looked
through some old material. The songs he performs are what one could call
“homeless”- think the island of misfit toys in the Rudolph Holiday Special. A twang
here, a twang there, and they just didn’t fit with a band. Besides, everyone
else was making a record, so why not?
He records all of the
instruments and vocals himself. “Being on my own for once provides me with
complete artistic control,” says Goldstein, “From the beginning I knew exactly
how I wanted it to sound and now I can call all the shots.”
Aaron will (without a doubt) be meticulously writing, recording and performing for the next while. The inaugural Espanola gig happened this past weekend (with backing band the Northwest Division) on the Jackson Square Rooftop in the blistering heat. He's got some out of town dates with Dan Griffin and The Regrets coming up, but the next time you can catch him in Hamilton is July 1st at "It's Your Festival" in Gage Park performing with Jawbone.
For show dates, music samples, and more visit www.myspace.com/thegoodrevoverdrive
(Photo by Aimee Rochard)