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Saturday, 8 January, 2011 2:55 PM
CMA New Artist Spotlight: 'Jaron
and the Long Road to Love'
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Photo
by Peter Dokus
Jaron
and the Long Road to Love |
| By
Bob Doerschuk |
| ©
2010 CMA Close Up News Service |
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Almost nothing about
Jaron and The Long Road to Love fits the model for up-and-coming
Country acts. Begin with the name: You might think it belongs to
a band, but it’s actually one person, Jaron Lowenstein, announcing
his commitment to tell a story through song of where he’s
been and where he’s bound on life’s highway.
Then there’s the
fact that Jaron isn’t exactly a rookie. Although he didn’t
start singing until after high school and never even picked up a
musical instrument until he was 20 years old, he enjoyed success
after joining his twin brother Evan to perform and record as, simply,
Evan and Jaron. They left their Atlanta hometown, moved to Southern
California, released a couple of albums, played some high-profile
gigs and eventually split up.
End of story? Not at
all. Seeking to redefine himself, Jaron drove to Nashville. Crashing
on couches and in a friend’s spare bedroom, he toned down
the pop ironies that had colored his previous work and opened to
the more honest expressions that guide those who write in the Country
vein. “I gave up a lot to pursue something that I felt was
what I was meant to do,” he said. “It was at once scary
and beautiful.”
The results of this effort
aren’t scary at all, though Jaron’s self-produced debut
album does have plenty of beautiful moments, some disarmingly candid
lyrics and an abundance of strongly crafted tunes. Released by Jaronwood/Universal
Republic Nashville in association with Big Machine Records, Getting
Dressed in the Dark features seven tracks that Jaron wrote solo.
He also co-wrote the remaining three, including its first single,
“Pray for You.” With collaborator Joel Brentlinger,
he invests this narrative with a humor whose dark twists are underscored
by a churchy introduction, upbeat mid-tempo arrangement and deadpan
vocal. Come to think of it, some of that L.A. irony lingers after
all.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Q&A
CD IN YOUR STEREO
“Twisted, by Del Amitri.”
PET PEEVE
“People who leave trash for others to pick up.”
WORD YOU SAY OVER
AND OVER
“Frans — my name for fans, part fan/part friend.”
TITLE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“Thus Far.”
MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE
YOU’D RELIVE
“None — the best is yet to come.”
MUSICAL HERO
“Billy Joel or Justin Currie from the band Del Amitri.”
SONG YOU’D
SECRETLY LIKE TO COVER
“I don’t have secrets. If I want to cover a song, I
do it. I have covered songs from Lady Gaga to Bobby Darin and all
in between.”
DREAM DUET PARTNER
“Currently, Taylor Swift. I’d like to write and perform
a ‘duelette’ with her. A duel meets a duet. So it wouldn’t
be a love song ... it would be a ‘you hurt me’ song
with both sides equally heard from.”
BOOK ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND
“You’re Nobody in Show Business Until Someone Wants
You Dead by Bernie Brillstein.”
FIRST GIG
“The Freight Room in Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 13, 1993. Me and my
bro entertained a crowd of about 50 people. It was amazing. I’ll
never forget that rush of getting off the stage. It was just as
big as getting off stage in front of 40,000 people because it was
my first time.”
On the Web:
www.JaronATLRTL.com
AmericaJR.com
is Detroit's exclusive media outlet for this syndicated weekly column!
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