The songwriting bug works in mysterious ways. After a decade of garage bands, off- beat jazz combos and a foray into the solitude of classical guitar, Aaron found himself in Armenia as a Peace Corps volunteer on what he believed to be a two-year hiatus from performing music. Aside from a duffle with clothes and a few books, his luggage consisted on his aunt's old nylon string and a 5-string travel banjo given him as a parting gift. There, in the heart of the southern Caucasus, his banjo and songbook helped him develop a much-needed relationship with Appalachia. The presence of a banjo (one of the few in the region), caught the attention of local songwriter, Gor Mkhitarian, who invited Aaron to join his Armenian folk-rock troupe. After 3 months of jamming in the metal shipping container that compromised chateau Mkhitarian, Gor told Aaron of their upcoming gig in the capital city.

"We'll play 2 of my songs and 2 of yours," he announced.
"But I don't have any songs."
"You will...the show's in 3 weeks."


And so it was, through of the sour haze of his landlady's mulberry vodka, that Aaron penned his first tune. "Tennessee Girlfriend," a travelogue chronicling the ill-fated attempts of the songwriter and his friends to secure companionship on their way from Massachusetts to Texas, became the lead track on an EP titled "The Yerevan Sessions."


What was to be a hiatus became a musical awakening (in addition to his solo release, Aaron appears as an instrumentalist on 3 of Gor's albums). Long after returning from his Caucasian sojourn, the muses now find the singer/guitarist in Nashville. In February 2012 he completed an EP titled "Emigre" with bassist/producer Don Kerce, Marco Giovino on drums and vocalist Erin Thomas.

"I always try and preserve the energy of that dilapidated old shipping container in Armenia. It was in those moments I realized that there's nothing better then writing songs and getting to play them with your friends."