Hi Greta,
Great question.
First, for others reading who might not know, here’s a list of albums and EPs:
- My Whole Life (2005)
- Songs from a Small Town (2006)
- Christmas Songs (2008)
- Three (2012)
- Tennessee Sky (2012)
- Safe Enough to Wander (2013)
- Black Wall Way EP (2016)
- Passages (2017)
- This Time of the Year (2017)
- Wonder EP (2018)
- Rock and Roll Man EP (2019)
- Up North (2022)
I’m proud of each one for different reasons, but “Up North” is tied to my DNA in a way that it would be hard not to call it my favorite. (I suppose, like most artists, it’s also probably my favorite because it’s the latest thing I’ve finished.) While the other albums are sort of time capsules of my maturity level in life, “Up North” is pretty foundational. It’s a concept album about my hometown circa 1987, when I was at such an impressionable age.
It might also be true—and this is just me thinking out loud—that the difference between “Up North” and every other album is I wrote “Up North” as a gift. I had a few people in mind and my only goal was to make them smile, chuckle, or cry. A big part of me finds value in serving others; my self-esteem plummets when I don’t feel useful (that’s why I carry a pocketknife!)— so that plays into why it’s my favorite as well.
What’s funny, though, is that even though it’s my favorite, it’s my least successful in terms of commercial success. Thankfully, I had help from all you incredible fans in order to fund the making of it.
Thanks for the question, Greta!
Love,
Aaron
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Got a questions? Ask me anything.