I’ve been playing music for a long time…
My parents were musical, my grandparents were musical, and so on. Growing up, there was always a piano nearby and most everyone in my family enjoys singing. My earliest memories of music were with my grandma, mom and uncle who encouraged me to make noise on the keys. I’ve always loved music and started taking weekly private lessons on piano when I was about 5 years old.
My first piano was an electric keyboard and I loved being creative and recording my songs. My uncle is a very talented musician and taught me the basics of song writing and recording music at an early age. In elementary school, I tried trumpet and viola but never really enjoyed it enough to continue. Although, I started listening to rock and jazz bands and became very interested in learning how to play guitar and drums. As I moved into middle school, I started taking private guitar and drum lessons in my home town, Salem Oregon.
In sixth grade, I tried out for jazz band and had the opportunity to play piano and some basic drums. As required for jazz band, I signed up for concert band and learned the essentials of rhythm over the next 7 years. I learned how to play snare, crash cymbals, timpani, xylophone/marimba, and other percussion instruments with a massive group. During that time, I also played acoustic and electric guitar at my church on the weekends and some nights during the week. You could say music was my life!
My first rock band was a trio called Buckwheat that I started with my best friend Jordan and my brother Mike in 2000. We played a few concerts for friends, at assemblies at our high school, and also won a battle of the bands event at a summer camp. Eventually, I started playing with other bands in the U.S. and Mexico and eventually recorded my first album while staying with my uncle and his family in Maidenhead, England in 2002.
By the time I finished high school in 2004, I was fluent on piano, guitar, bass, drums and mandolin. After graduating high school, I took an opportunity to study music at Corban University where I had been taking piano lessons for several years. (Professor John Bartsch) He is, to this day, one of the most inspiring musicians I have ever worked with. While I was studying music, I came across an opportunity to travel to Chinendega Nicaragua with a very skilled band. I had to raise several thousands of dollars to pull it off, so I played solo piano at Christmas parties and sold my album to help raise funds for the trip. The organization I traveled with put the tour together to give support, food and supplies for survivors of a hurricane that devastated the area. The goal was to deliver aid and support while using music to raise awareness. We played free concerts all over the region to promote our final concert which attracted over 70,000 people to the stadium. To this day, that was the largest crowd I’ve ever played for and it was such an incredible experience that I will never forget. I returned home after a few weeks with an entirely new perspective in life.
After a couple of years at Corban, I realized that I already had the skills to do exactly what I wanted to do with my life - travel and perform with bands! In 2006, I moved to Auburn Washington to join my cousin’s band. They had already recorded a few albums and I got to play public concert venues for the first time. Shortly after that, I parted ways with my cousin’s band and connected with a band in Grand Rapids Michigan called AG Silver. We toured through parts of Canada and almost every state in the US in just a couple of years. During our most successful tour, we raised money for a charity group called Blood Water Mission by donating merchandise sales to the cause. By the end of the tour, we helped provide access to clean drinking water for thousands of Africans across the continent who lacked access to that basic need at the time.
Along my travels, I met a few inspiring farmers and ranchers who had such interesting stories to tell about why they raise their own animals and grew their own food. I fell in love with that way of life! I grew tired of traveling and eventually decided I wanted to find someone to share my life and dreams with. In 2007, I decided to go back to school and study my other true passion - nature and wildlife. While I was studying biology at Linn Benton CC and Oregon State University, I met my wife Katie and we eventually got married. I fell into teaching private music lessons at the time to help with school bills and quickly realized that I LOVED teaching music… Everything seemed to make sense for me when I realized I could live my dream life by teaching music to support my farm and fishing hobbies.
In 2013, my wife decided to take a new job in Seattle so I decided it would be the perfect time to record some music I had been writing for years during my adventures. I named my album Cascadia based on the Pacific Northwest region of the US that I call home. My musical friend from high school, Ben Carson, (Hot Bodies In Motion) offered to play bass for my band and perform at a few small shows. I eventually met an amazing drummer and recording engineer (Chris Ghazel) who performed the drum parts with us at shows in Seattle and helped make my recording project come to life. Although the band was a lot of fun, my wife and I decided to take our dreams to the next level and leave the big city.
We moved to Port Angeles where I have been living since 2015! I’ve been teaching for over 13 years now and I love working with people from all walks of life. My students who are truly passionate about music are the ones who succeed the most with their goals. Working with children is a big part of my job and I really love it. My mom ran a home daycare when I was growing up, so I’m used to being around kids. She was a huge inspiration for starting my own business and I couldn’t be more thankful for her support and guidance.
Now I’m living in Port Angeles on our small farm where I teach music. I also teach many wonderful students at Port Angeles Academy of Music at the waterfront in downtown Port Angeles. I occasionally host concerts and recitals in the barn on our property that we are slowly converting into a concert venue/recording studio. It’s a work in progress but a dream that’s quickly coming true!
-Aaron
