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Aaron Lewis, (born April 13, 1972), is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and founding member of the rock group Staind, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He has since ventured into country music with his debut solo album, Town Line. The EP was released on March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records.
Lewis grew up, largely, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, then moved to the Forest Park section of nearby Springfield from 8th grade through high school. His mother is Jewish with origins in Russia, Poland and Germany and his father is Catholic of Italian, Welsh and English origin. His hobbies include fishing, golf, riding his motorcycle and dirt bike, as well as hunting. He has worked in landscaping, cleaned hotel rooms, and played solo acoustic sets in bars, pool halls, restaurants and coffeehouses.
Lewis was, before Staind, in a band known as J-CAT with Tori Sands, Chris Ballini, and Staind bandmate Jon Wysocki. An album surfaced on the internet with nine of J-CAT's performances at Club Infinity in Springfield, Massachusetts. The performances were recorded while Dysfunction was being recorded. Two of Staind's popular singles—"Outside" and "It's Been Awhile"—were both originally performed by J-CAT with somewhat different lyrics. Lewis has been nominated for three Grammys.
Solo career
Lewis has been performing solo acoustic shows since he was 17 and still does today. He has written and performed many songs that have never been officially released such as "Angel", "Something Like Me", "Bonghits for Breakfast" (originally performed with J-CAT), "Anywhere but Here", and "Sleeping at the Wheel".
In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a country music EP entitled Town Line that was released March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. It features 7 tracks including 3 versions of the first single "Country Boy" featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as the songs "Massachusetts", "Vicious Circles", "The Story Never Ends", and a re-recording of "Tangled Up in You" originally from The Illusion of Progress. Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with Kid Rock.
He was featured on the song "No Sex" by Limp Bizkit on their album Significant Other. He was also featured on a remix for the song "Crawling" on Linkin Park's album Reanimation (the remix is titled "Krwlng" on the album), as well as Cold's album 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage. He contributed vocals to the song "Follow" on Sevendust's third album, Animosity, and to the songs "Bleed" and "Send in the Clowns" by the band Cold. He's also featured on Jimmie's Chicken Shack's song "Falling Out", the only single off their 2004 album re.present. July 2011 while promoting his Town Line album Lewis collaborated with Corey Taylor for a one night only acoustic duet show covering songs such as, Pearl Jam's "Black", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", and Alice In Chains' "Down In A Hole."
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