The Rock Tribune

AARON LEWIS will mark the March 1 release of his solo debut CD TOWN LINE (via Nashville-based Stroudavarious Records) with a performance that night on ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”  The Staind frontman will perform “Country Boy,” the CD’s powerful first single.  He’ll also appear the day before (Monday, February 28) on the nationally syndicated radio show “Rockline.”

In its first week, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist’s personal manifesto “Country Boy” sold over 20,000 digital singles, debuting at #9 on the Billboard Country Digital Singles sales chart.  Since its release, the single has sold over 182,000 copies (over 21,000 last week alone, outselling the top 5 most-played songs at rock radio combined) and is currently #15 on the Country Digital Single sales chart and already Top 25 at Active Rock. The song has also generated widespread airplay ahead of the official single release, with various rock and country stations adding it to their playlists on their own.  The striking video for “Country Boy” quickly hit #1 on the CMT.com chart, receiving over 200,000 views in its first ten days on CMT.com alone.  The video is also making a strong presence on the network’s “Top 20 Countdown” show (#17 this week) and is still in the Top 5 on CMT.com’s “Today’s Top Videos,” 11 weeks after its 12/1/10 release.  The video has been viewed over 1.7 million times on Youtube.

With a little help from legends George Jones and Charlie Daniels, LEWIS tells his story like never before on the song.  LEWIS’ voice carries a catchy chorus over a slide guitar, and he opens up about his past, present, and future. Featuring a fiery fiddle lead from Daniels and a booming verse from Jones, “Country Boy” strikes a balance between classic and modern country.

Their participation formally announces LEWIS‘ arrival in Nashville with a bang. The song’s music video is an event in and of itself.  Not only does the video feature Jones and Daniels in the studio, but it also draws from LEWIS‘ own family archives, giving a glimpse into his youth, home, passions, and so much more.

TOWN LINE was produced by Grammy Award-winning James Stroud and LEWIS and proudly sits alongside LEWIS’ numerous accolades. With Staind, he crafted the most-played rock song of the decade, “It’s Been Awhile,” sold 13 million albums worldwide, had four consecutive top 3 debuts on the Billboard 200, and released multiple cross-format radio hits. However, listeners haven’t heard him like this until now.

Country music comes naturally for LEWIS.  It’s something the Staind frontman grew up with in rural Vermont.  It’s something that he comes back to. It’s something that inspires him. It’s something that’s in his blood. Hints of that are present in the stripped honesty and acoustic melodies of Staind hits such as “Outside,” “It’s Been Awhile” and “So Far Away.”

LEWIS fully shows that spirit on TOWN LINE, which includes the songs “Massachusetts,” “Vicious Circles” and a new version of “Tangled Up in You,” the stand-out ballad from Staind’s sixth album, The Illusion of Progress. “The song was already a little bit country in term of its flavor with the slide guitar and the pedal steel,” LEWIS says. “We brought it further down that road.”

Look for LEWIS to continue his tour of solo acoustic dates (see below); his freewheeling acoustic shows (which he has been performing for the past few years in tandem with his continuing role inStaind) have earned him rave reviews.