"Familiar Faces"

Los Angeles Singer-Songwriter Drew Aron

Releases Debut EP Familiar Faces
Collected Observations of an Ex-twenty-something Artist
On Elegant Regrets Music

1st Single, “Running,” out October 2
2nd Single, “Sugar Maple,” out October 23
Full Familiar Faces EP out on November 13, 2020

Drew Aron, one-time classical guitarist turned folky singer-songwriter, will release his debut EP, Familiar Faces, on Elegant Regrets Music on November 13, 2020. In advance of the EP, Aron will put out two singles along with videos for each. “Running,” the first single, came out on October 2, and “Sugar Maple,” out on October 23. Familiar Faces will also have a video release. For more information please visit
https://www.drewaron.com.

Aron’s songs, while simple on the surface, reveal many layers upon closer listening and understanding of the artist’s journey through making and releasing this EP. The moving seven-song Familiar Faces has been building over the last five years, when Aron began writing songs again after a long period of focusing on a career as a classical guitarist. Inspired by fellow musicians who were working on telling their own stories and making their own albums, Aron abandoned the classical music path and started to work on telling his own musical story.

While not necessarily a “concept” EP, Familiar Faces is the collected observations of an artist, also in recovery, trying to find his way amid the ups and downs (and laughter mixed with tears) as a creative soul in the City of Angels. The songs began as scribbles that Aron never thought he’d release for public consumption, penned between health food store and food delivery shifts. Aron’s friend K.C. Maloney (aka Adult Karate) encouraged him to develop his songs more seriously into a solo project, and this nudge inspired Aron to continue writing and honing his day-to-day observations and experiences into wry, folky musical nuggets of truth. A lover of ‘60s and ‘70s folksters like Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Gene Clark, he hoped his sound would be more tongue-in-cheek, but as you’ll hear, Aron’s music is often heartachingly earnest, something he himself has found surprising. He says of his songs, “It goes in one way and comes out another. That’s what I find I love the most about the process.”

                                                              "Sugar Maple"

The recording of Familiar Faces was an organic process that took about two years. Aron recorded much of the EP in his bedroom, and used a neighbor’s house as well when roommates were too noisy. This is a true slice of modern life, right down to the recording process, and over time some of the songs were reworked from wherever they started to the mature songwriting voice you hear on the finished EP. “Each song was recorded at a different stage of development,” Aron says, “so I feel that, aside from the lyrical content, each song also tells the story of where I was with my singing voice, how ‘country’ or ‘folk’ I wanted to be. There’s a wonderful conflict in the EP because, at first, I didn’t intend the recordings to all be put out together.”

Once Familiar Faces had taken shape, Aron worked with his friend Dash Hutton to add some drum tracks, and Adaline (frequent Adult Karate collaborator) to bring in some vocal harmonies. Limited time and resources dictated Familiar Faces’ uncomplicated arrangements, allowing Aron’s folky voice and heartfelt lyrics to shine through. After years playing classical music, the artist finds himself at home in the refreshing simplicity of his new identity as a singer-songwriter. Aron sums Familiar Faces up best: “I don’t see this EP as a singular statement, or some sort of way to establish a new artist identity for myself. It is, quite literally, a record of me finding my own voice through music.”