Without doubt one of the truest "SOUL" albums of 2015 so far has been 'The Tin Man' from AARON PARNELL BROWN. The complex but concise nine tracker has won the hearts of underground soul lovers since UK soul scribe Toby Walker (see www.soulwalking.co.uk ) discovered the self-released album earlier in the year. With regular plays on Jazz FM, the lead track 'Just Leave' has drawn comparison with Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway and because of the buzz on Aaron, Ralph Tee (who knows a thing or two about proper soul) has stepped in and signed the album for exclusive release on his Expansion Records so that everyone can now have the opportunity to enjoy the subtle soul gem. With the release scheduled from July 24th, what better time to learn a bit more about Mr. Brown... so here we go, an exclusive interview with soul's newest star and, as ever, we start with some background... I grew up for my first eleven years or so in Philadelphia where much of my family is from. While in elementary school I started playing music on the flute. After moving to South Carolina in middle school I transferred to the trumpet which I really loved. I really fell in love with jazz and soul music when I started playing the trumpet. My Dad was a big soul and jazz lover and he introduced me to jazz greats such as Clifford Brown (from nearby Wilmington, DE), John Coltrane (who lived in Philly for awhile), and, of course, Miles Davis. He also introduced me to all the soul music he loved from the 70's such as the great Philly acts - The Stylistics, The Delfonics, Teddy Pendergrass, and Blue Magic as well as other great soul acts such as Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, New Birth, and Enchantment. In high school I had a bad basketball accident where I got hit in the mouth and wasn't able to play the trumpet well after that which lead me to picking up the guitar and singing. I never really thought I had a great voice, but I just 1 / 6
loved to sing because in many ways I thought it was similar to playing the trumpet with regards to finding and singing great melodic lines. I guess my ambitions growing up were to play professional basketball or baseball. I loved both sports, especially basketball, and worked tirelessly to make that happen, but unfortunately I just wasn't good enough. Growing up music, was more of just something I really enjoyed doing. I played music all the time just because it really made me feel great, not because I wanted to be a superstar or anything. OK... so what about your musical influences... who are your heroes? My primary singing influences are Stevie Wonder (his tone, range, and control), Donny Hathaway (his tone and emotion), Frank Sinatra (his phrasing), Prince (his style), Nina Simone (all that emotion!), and Mick Jagger (what a horrible singer, but I just can't get enough of his style). 2 / 6
When did you to decide to make Music a career choice? Was it a difficult decision? I'm still deciding to make music a career choice!!! Really, I just love making music and love performing for audiences so I'm trying to keep my decision-making as simple as that when it comes to my future in the music business. It's really tough to make a living in this business and I'm really only in the beginning of that, so to not be discouraged I always come back to the question of "do you like playing music? Yes" "do you enjoy performing music? Yes" well then don't think about it, just do it as much as you can till you can't do it anymore. What were your first professional music experiences? My first professional music experiences were in a band called Alien Red. We played a mix of soul, blues, rock, punk, country, and just about everything else too. We played lots of gigs to great crowds, empty rooms, and all other kinds of audiences. It was there were I really got a chance to see and feel if a career in music was for me. We'd drive 4 or 5 hours to play a show and get paid in fries and cigarettes (or not get paid at all!) and then we'd drive home unpack all of our gear and then I'd go into work the next day. That experience was pretty rough, but while it was happening it never ever felt like work which opened my eyes to what I want to do in life. One story that was pretty funny was when we had our first gig in New York City and we were so excited. It was in the financial district at a crappy little bar and were so excited to play the show, but in the middle of our second song the owner stops us and asks us if more people were coming to the show, because there was no one there, and we said no. Then he says "this isn't a practice space" and just kicks us out the bar in the middle of the song and this is after we drove 3 hours to get there! 3 / 6
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