Aaron Espe

Last updated

Aaron Espe
Aaron Espe in hia recording studio 2013.jpg
Background information
Birth nameAaron Sheldon Espe
Born (1981-08-27) August 27, 1981 (age 42)
Roseau, Minnesota
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, record producer, musician
Instrument(s)Vocals guitar
Website aaronespe.com

Aaron Sheldon Espe (born August 27, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer.

Contents

Biography

Of Norwegian and Swedish descent, Espe, the third of four children, was born in Roseau, Minnesota, a small town with a population of 2633. The son of an electrician and piano teacher, he began singing in church alongside his sisters, with mom at the piano and dad leading the congregation in song. This was Espe's first introduction to music equipment: speakers, amplifiers, microphones, and years later, drums. Piano lessons came at the age of six, and after seeing a concert at the age of 14, he went to his grandfather to borrow a guitar and learn to play. This lesson consisted of a few chords written on a piece of paper with an explanation of how to play them.

Espe was educated at The University of North Dakota and Colorado State University where he studied English Literature.

In 2004, Espe was introduced to touring by opening for the folk duo Storyhill in Minneapolis. Chris Cunningham (member of the duo) took Espe under his wing and invited him to open on his solo sets around Minnesota. After a self-released album in 2005, Espe continued to open for Storyhill. He toured solo across the U.S., including Western Alaska. He played in coffee shops, bars, churches, and a yoga studio once. Espe toured Northern Ireland opening for Juliet Turner and Brian Houston. He also opened for The Fray and John Gorka.

In 2011 Espe moved to Nashville, Tennessee and signed his first publishing contract with JMHB and Revelry Music Group in January 2012. [1]

Espe signed a recording contract with Nettwerk in November 2012 and released the self-produced "Through Frozen Forests" – EP in December 2012.

He sings and plays guitar and has released six solo albums. Espe is also the front man in Bombs Over Nowhere with busbee, and a member of the band Haviland, alongside Mike Ayers (guitarist of Meese). [2] Espe's music has appeared in various television shows on MTV, Animal Planet, and VH1 as well as commercial's for Sainsbury's, Payless ShoeSource, and The University of Minnesota. [3] Espe's music also appeared on the soundtrack for the film, "Where the Yellowstone Goes.”

Espe's album Three was co-produced with The Fray guitarist, Dave Welsh, and mastered by Thom Donovan. Ben Wysocki of The Fray, played drums on Espe's Songs from a Small Town and co-produced Christmas Songs.[ citation needed ]

His song "Back to the Beginning" plays over the final scenes of season three, episode one of Ricky Gervais series After Life . [4]

Discography

Solo

With Haviland

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jars of Clay</span> American Christian rock band

Jars of Clay is a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. The members met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Folds</span> American musician (born 1966)

Benjamin Scott Folds is an American singer-songwriter from Greensboro, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the eponymous frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000, and again during their reunion from 2011 to 2013. He has recorded a number of solo albums – the most recent of which, What Matters Most, was released in June 2023. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and yMusic, and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. Since May 2017, he has been the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara MacLean</span> Canadian musician

Tara Margaret Charity MacLean is a Canadian musician, singer, and composer. Her songs as a solo artist include "Evidence", "If I Fall", and a cover of the Christmas song "Light of the Stable". She was a member of Atlantic Canadian regional group, Shaye with Kim Stockwood and Damhnait Doyle from 2002 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Thiessen</span> Canadian-American singer-songwriter

Matthew Arnold Thiessen is a Canadian-born American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-length albums, including three that were certified Gold, and three that peaked in the top twenty on the Billboard 200. Outside of his work with Relient K, Thiessen leads a side project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes, which released its debut album Wind Up Bird on August 31, 2018. In 2009, he co-produced and collaborated on Owl City's album Ocean Eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reeves Gabrels</span> Musical artist

Reeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999 and was a member of the band Tin Machine. He has lived in New York, Boston, London, Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York's Hudson Valley. His Nashville-based band since 2007, Reeves Gabrels & His Imaginary Friends, features Gabrels on guitar and vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fray</span> American rock band

The Fray is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King. Their debut studio album How to Save a Life (2005) was released through Epic Records, and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The album spawned their first hit single, "Over My Head ," which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. Their second single, "How to Save a Life" reached further success as it peaked at number three on the chart, also becoming a top five hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, both songs received respective Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mat Kearney</span> American musician

Mathew William Kearney is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Whites</span> American country and gospel band

The Whites are an American country music vocal group from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. They consist of sisters Sharon White and Cheryl White, and their father, Buck White. Sharon plays guitar, Cheryl is the bassist and Buck plays the mandolin. Formed in 1972, the trio has recorded multiple albums and charted multiple songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. They are also known as frequent collaborators of country and bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs, who is Sharon's husband.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damon Johnson</span> Musical artist

Damon Rogers Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a solo artist, a member of Brother Cane and guitarist in Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He became a member of Thin Lizzy in 2011 and was also the lead guitarist and co-songwriter for hard rock group Black Star Riders from 2012 to 2018. Johnson has also released several solo albums and his songs have been recorded by many artists including Stevie Nicks and Carlos Santana.

Andy McKee is an American fingerstyle guitar player who has released six studio albums, two extended plays, and one live album to date. A number of YouTube videos featuring McKee's highly-technical guitar performances have achieved viral fame, garnering hundreds of million of views collectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Whalum</span> American jazz saxophonist and songwriter (born 1958)

Kirk Whalum is an American R&B and smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He toured with Whitney Houston for more than seven years and soloed on her single "I Will Always Love You", the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. He was also featured on many Luther Vandross albums, most often playing on the singer's covers of older pop and R&B standards such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "I ", and "Love Won't Let Me Wait".

Findlay Brown is a Yorkshire-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer. His music is melodic, gentle and intimate, drawing on influences from the rural settings where he grew up. His songs are metaphoric, often using nature's imagery to illustrate the inner conflict in the search for a more truthful way of living.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Donovan</span> American musician, producer (born 1974)

Thom Donovan is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and writer. His first novel, The Twin Affair, was published by Pegasus on September 28, 2023. He has released five solo albums and was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Lapush. His international performance career has included concerts across the United States as well as cities around the world. Donovan has performed with Brandi Carlile, Ruby Amanfu, Will Hoge, and worked with Wyclef Jean of The Fugees on his single, Shipwreck. Donovan's music frequently appears in film and television. He had a recurring uncredited background role in the ABC musical drama series, Nashville, as a musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamestown Story</span> American band

Jamestown Story is an acoustic-based music project created by Dane Schmidt, a singer-songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schmidt released his first album under the name And Then I Turned Seven in late 2003 and has since released 7 albums as well as numerous singles and EP's as Jamestown Story. As an A&R, Schmidt signed songwriters Jordan Schmidt, Zach Kale, along with artists Gabby Barrett, Mitchell Tenpenny, The Band Camino, Kameron Marlowe, and Adam Doleac. He now resides in Nashville, TN.

<i>Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray</i> 2011 studio album by Seether

Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray is the fifth studio album by South African rock band Seether. It was the only Seether album to have Troy McLawhorn as the lead guitarist. He departed from the band just before the album's release, once again becoming the rhythm guitarist for the band Evanescence. It was released on 17 May 2011, and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madi Diaz</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1986)

Madi Diaz is an American singer-songwriter and musician.

Paul David Harbour is an American bass guitar and guitar player, pianist and composer. He is recognised for his work with David T. Chastain, Michael Harris and Tony MacAlpine. He has played in the bands "Leather", "Chastain" and "King Diamond". He teaches bass guitar, guitar and piano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennon & Maisy</span> Canadian music duo

Lennon & Maisy were a Canadian music duo composed of sisters Lennon Stella and Maisy Stella. They are best known for their roles as Maddie and Daphne Conrad in the ABC/CMT musical drama series Nashville (2012–2018).

<i>David Brent: Life on the Road</i> 2016 British comedy film by Ricky Gervais

David Brent: Life on the Road is a 2016 British mockumentary comedy film written, directed, and produced by Ricky Gervais and released by Entertainment One. The film stars Gervais as David Brent, a character he played in the BBC television comedy series The Office, who has a film crew that shadows him as he travels up and down the country living his dream of being a rock star. Gervais said, "This film delves much more into his private life than The Office ever did and we really get to peel back the layers of this extraordinary, ordinary man." He has emphasised that it is "not an Office film".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith & Kristyn Getty</span> Northern Irish Christian duo

Keith & Kristyn Getty are a musical duo from Northern Ireland, focusing on hymns and other Christian music. They are best known for the hymn “In Christ Alone,” co-written with Stuart Townend.

References

  1. Music Row musicrow.com.
  2. Music News Nashville musicnewsnashville.com.
  3. Nettwerk Music Blog Archived August 26, 2014, at the Wayback Machine nettskinny.com.
  4. "After Life soundtrack: All the songs in Ricky Gervais' Netflix show so far". Smooth. Retrieved January 31, 2022.