I’m rock + roll all the way, with a smattering of other indefinable genres mixed in. So why then am I doing an interview with one of Canada’s leading Country Artists? Because he’s good. Because he’s really a nice guy. And because he’s as close to rock + roll as a country artist can get. And the people he’s friends with, writes with, works with, are rock and rollers – but according to Aaron – add a steel guitar or change up the tempo, and its country all the way.
Aaron Pritchett has been on the music scene for a good many years. He recently turned perpetual 39 (as he jokes), has created his own record label, Decibel Records, and management company, Decibel Entertainment, and has just finished recording his latest album, ‘In the Driver’s Seat’, due out November 9th – the first single, ‘Light it Up’, is already out on commercial radio and the video for the song hits CMT starting November 1st. The new album has put him in a reflective mood, as have other things in life lately. From our chat over shared steak bites and burgers I can see this is a good place for him to be.
Donna Mair: The last time I saw you live, the show was an eye opener for me. Up till that time I’d only seen you perform at the Canadian Juno Weekend in Vancouver (acoustically and jointly with other people on stage), and didn’t know what to expect. I was quite surprised actually – the first thing that came to mind was, “this guy’s really rock and roll!”
Aaron Pritchett: (Laughing) I’m an old rocker guy at heart and obviously that shows or is reflected in the songs I write and choose to record. Country is my love, but you could change it up and it would be a rock song.
DM: Well, you did say at that show, “I’m more rock and roll but my heart is in country.”
AP: Well that’s what I like to be like – that guy who you really can’t tell what genre of music we’re playing, when we play live. I don’t want them to say, “yeah this is a country show.” I want them to be confused – ‘this is like a rock show-by a country guy.’ Garth Brooks had that. He gave Country Music its entertainment factor, its edge. I went to a country show years ago – a huge show, large audience, big star – and it was frankly, quite boring. The artist just stood there and played. Sounded great but no entertainment factor. I want to be the guy running around on stage giving it some energy.
DM: You surely do that! The audience seemed to be having a grand time, especially when ‘Hold my Beer’ made it to the set list. I have been somewhat sceptical of that particular song, but done live its very tongue-in-cheek – very funny. One doesn’t think that it’s meant to be that way when you read the lyrics, but people were laughing and really enjoying it (including me)
AP: The cool thing for me is that we get all kinds of age groups, right from 5 yr olds (all ages shows) to grandmothers. It’s cool to see the kids singing ‘Hold my Beer’ in the audience. At the time I wrote it, I knew it was going to be a great song and could be taken tongue-in-cheek. Back in 2005 (when he wrote it), I came back to Vancouver to do an acoustic show, and my grandparents were there. We sang the song and I thought for sure they’d hate the song; that they’d be upset about me writing it. After the show, I went up to my grandparents and asked if they’d enjoyed the show, dreading what my grandmother was going to say. And she said, “we had a lovely time dear, and I just have to tell you my favorite song is ‘Hold my Beer’, I just love that song.” And so I figured,’ it’s going to be a hit now’ (laughs).
I think – if there is a story behind this song, I think it’s that women want to be defended. They want to see chivalry. Chivalry is dead, especially these days. It’s a sing-along song, almost an anthem, and it served its purpose. Having said that, I don’t want to be ‘the anthem guy’ either. Here’s one of the really cool things too – even though ‘Hold my Beer’ is one of the most anticipated songs of my shows, afterwards, in the line-up when I speak to fans, I have people tell me, “my favorite song is ‘My Way’, or “my favorite song is ‘New Frontier’. They were waiting to sing ‘Hold my Beer’ with me but they love the other songs more.
DM: So where do you get ideas for your songs?
AP: Sometimes a song title will come into my head from out of nowhere, so I write it down and save it until I have the time to write a song for it. Funny thing though, when I’m in Nashville and go into ‘work mode’ I’m constantly thinking of song titles! ‘Hold my Beer’ was one of those songs – I saw a saying on the back of a t-shirt 10 yrs prior, but didn’t write it until I was in ‘work mode’.
There are 2 songs which will be on the new record like this– one is called ‘Pinch’. I couldn’t get the word out of my head so we wrote the song for that title when I was in Nashville. It’s going to be a cross between ‘ZZ Top meets Aerosmith meets Aaron Pritchett’.
The other was an idea for a song – I heard a sort of Reggae beat in my head, and an idea came -of sitting on the top of your stoop in NY watching the neighborhood go by, and you’re sitting there explaining what is happening in the neighborhood.
I talked to (country artist and writer) Willie Mack about it, and when he went to Nashville he shared my idea with Wade Kirby (another accomplished songwriter for many Nashville artists.) They both worked on it, and when Willie came back and showed it to me, it was exactly what was in my head. It’s definitely a pop song but I’m going to do a country version of it – and I think it’s going to be a huge song – something that will stick with people when they hear it.
DM: You’ve written or co-written all but one song on your new album, ‘In the Driver’s Seat’… that’s a first for you – how was it?
AP: For the longest time I was unsure about my writing. I love the writing, I really do love it, and I know I’m good at it – now (laughs).
This new album is something I wanted to write, a reflection of me. If that means I get accolades from it great, but if not, that’s fine too – it’s a record I’ve wanted to make for some time – and I was able to turn my focus to writing for a time instead of touring – because touring does take its toll. When you’re on the road you don’t focus on yourself, you focus on the work, on the act, on the fans and band etc. That’s why I’ve taken time off recently – just focused more on my family and myself, and my writing.
DM: We aren’t going to lose your live performances to you becoming a full time writer are we?
AP: For me it’s… I’ve played live on stage for the majority of my life and I love it and I’d miss it if I didn’t do it. For me at this point of my career, I still want to be the artist. I still want to tour and play for whoever will come to hear me, to fill the seats, etc
I’ve done and been exactly where I’ve wanted to be, and that’s more important to me than anything else… I still want to go out and see the fans. That’s the one thing I would miss if I only wrote. You can take away the money and fame part of it, but the connection with the fans singing your songs – it sounds so cheesy but it really is true, it’s really true. I love the fact that I wrote a song and a person I’ve never met is singing it back to me. That’s pretty special. You’re affecting their life. If I’m having fun and making them happy by singing a song, you can’t replace that – it’s pretty cool.
DM: Music has the ability for a lot of people to not only change their mood, but change their life.
AP: Yes it can change many things- here’s another cool example of how its happened for me.. my song, ‘Done Me Wrong’ – it’s a song many women relate to sadly… when I sing that song and I see women crying in the crowd, I literally well up and get shivers just thinking ‘this is affecting their lives.’ The song is something I wrote from a deep place in myself, and it’s affecting their life but it’s obviously not making them feel sad, its making them feel good. And it is helping, which is pretty wild.
DM: I’m a firm believer that artists who write from that deep place capture something that sticks with people for a long time – not like a pop song that’s catchy, and in the moment, and forgotten pretty quickly – the deeper songs seem almost timeless and many times are almost cathartic for people and what they might be going through.
AP: Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. You can take everything else away from the industry but you can’t replace that. Ultimately I’d love to write more songs like that – it’s not easy to do but you just have to dig a little deeper. I hope that some of the songs on my new album reflect this way of thinking too. I think they do.
DM: I can’t wait to hear it. When can we go buy it?
AP: (smiling) Soon. (November 9th)
You can find Aaron Pritchett on Twitter where he’s very active with fans.
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