There’s a fine line between adventurous and reckless
The first time I saw Aaron Lee Tasjan was at Shake It Records during an in-store performance by Lilly Hiatt, whom he was opening for that night at the Southgate House Revival. As time went on, however, the Columbus native’s name kept popping up among Nashville people in the know, so I talked with him before he headlined the Revival Room in November of 2016.
Tasjan’s decision to skip school didn’t hold him back
There is a fine line between adventurous and reckless. It might have seemed reckless for Aaron Lee Tasjan to turn down a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music to play rock ’n’ roll in New York City, but it became an excellent adventure.
The singer-songwriter from the Columbus suburb of New Albany recently released his second album, “Silver Tears,” to enthusiastic reviews. After high school, however, his parents weren’t thrilled.
“They were not fans of that move,” says Tasjan, laughing at the memory. “I greatly appreciate the opportunity I had at Berklee … but I was a hot-headed kid. I needed to know how good I was.
“To me, the way to do that was to go to the hardest place to live in America (Brooklyn) and get my (butt) handed to me on a daily basis by dudes who were very gracious about the fact that I wasn’t as good as them.”
But Tasjan was motivated to work his butt off, constantly practicing his guitar more and taking each gig that was offered. Those included stints with the New York Dolls, Alberta Cross and Drivin’ N Cryin’. After a while, he began to write his own songs.
“I learned a lot of great lessons from the songwriters in those bands, but it was also kind of intimidating for a dude who was trying to write songs,” he says. “Sitting in a van next to Kevn Kinney (of Drivin’ N Cryin’) and you’re polishing your lyrics and he goes, ‘Oh yeah, I wrote this last week,’ and rattles off some genius thing that makes you feel like a preschooler with a set of finger paints.”
Those swirly early efforts evolved, however, and Tasjan’s adventure led him to East Nashville where he crossed paths with Kinney’s friend Todd Snider.
“Kevn Kinney brought him to my house and said you’re going to hate this guy (because his songs are so good),” Snider says. “He played a song – I just got goosebumps again thinking about it. When you see somebody like that who is not just doing great music but is such a genuine person … He won’t tell you this, but he has completely taken over our side of town.”
High praise from one dude to another. Tasjan is featured in videos of Snider’s recent “Eastside Bulldog,” and is thanked prominently in the album’s credits. That generosity is not lost on him.
“Man, I honestly can’t even believe I that I get to hang around with those people,” Tasjan says of Snider and Elizabeth Cook, another neighbor and champion of his work. “Both of them have been hugely influential for me, not necessarily musically but in terms of how they have built a career.”
That somewhat reckless decision a dozen years ago has paid off. Mom and Dad surely have become big fans these days.