I first heard of Aaron Lee Tasjan only a few months ago…4 to be more precise, but in that short amount of time the impact the songwriter has had on my own creative process, my writing, and how I enjoy music has been substantial. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to me that a new record from him will become a quick favorite of mine…I mean, I did say “ This is a guy that everyone should be paying attention. to I absolutely and wholeheartedly f*cking love this EP…you go get it now…” about his last EP after all.

Tasjan has a dry humored wit. He delivers genius lines with a cool hand and a straight face approach. It almost makes you wonder, wait, is he talking about me right there? I find that I often have to go and rewind back to a certain line in his songs, because they are subtly put in there, they make you do a double take and say “wait, he said what? Man, what a line!” Music that needs to be heard over and over again, and should be.

The trouble with drinkin’ is it ain’t no trouble at all
I don’t have no problem when it comes to alcohol
It’s as easy to come by as the air that I breathe
Unless I’m low on money, or too high on the weed

His finger picked guitar style is smooth, but has a realness to it. I really love this guy’s guitar playing. I mean, a lot of folks finger pick, but the way that Aaron does is a style that is definitive ALT, you can tell that this is his own style. Just as smooth as his musicality is his voice. He is part spoken blues and part folky with a heart of gold. Listenable and approachable as f*ck.

This first tune off of the songwriter’s full length record “In the Blazes” has a timeless quality to it. Kicking in with his signature picking style and the drawl of his voice as the band kicks in after the first chorus approach. The tubey sound from the organs, a head bobbing groove, and a line after line that cuts into your psyche. All resolving back to that chorus line. This makes me excited for the full length and I can’t wait to hear this whole thing…I have only heard 3 tracks from the album so far and am going to go ahead and say that this record will be one of the 2 best records of the year (if not THE best). You can quote me on that.

Do yourself a favor, give this a listen or 12, then pre-order “In the Blazes”. You will thank me.