The Tractor Presents: Aaron Lee Tasjan w/ Molly Martin AT The Sunset

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, band leader, activist, and Grammy nominee.Aaron Lee Tasjan has been and continues to be all of these things. Over his past decade plus of writing, recording, producing, Tasjan has released four excellent and critically acclaimed solo albums, toured the world over on his own and as the guitarist in the New York Dolls. He co-founded and co-wrote all of the material for the band Semi Precious Weapons. In 2021 he was nominated for a Grammy for his writing on Yolas Diamond Studded Shoes and most recently, Tasjan produced Mya Byrnes album Rhinestone Tomboy (Kill Rock Stars Nashville) which helped to establish her as one of the first openly trans artists in Americana Music. Hes cultivated a brilliant and outstanding career to date already. But his forthcoming album Stellar Evolution (Blue lan Records) is just what the title says. Tasjans new album is truly the sum of all of the parts of his diverse accomplishments to date while clearly heading in a brand-new direction. You cant put any labels on Stellar Evolution except for it being a career defining work and a major leap forward for someone whos never been afraid to push the boundaries of any and all expectations.As he set out to work on Stellar Evolution, Tasjan knew better than ever what was important to him. Hes been working his way towards a record like this since he first started making solo albums, with 2015s In the Blazes. He stuck to an alt-country paradigm early in his career, though he knew that all of his favorite artists were the ones who broke out of their own boxes. His approach to that changed when he began to be more open about his queer identity. I realized that part of being an artist means building a community. What do you want that community to look like? Who do you want to be a part of that community? As an artist, its your job to curate that, and to be a reflection of what you wanna see in the world, he says. I gradually got braver to share more and more of myself through each record, and the music just kinda had to follow suit. Stellar Evolution is a record on which Tasjans songwriting is beholden to nothing no expectations, and certainly no genre. Just the pure sense of wonder and discovery that had made him fall in love with music as a kid in Orange County, devouring it all with no understanding or care for what was cool.

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