At the heart of
Staind's loud, angst-laden music are the confessional lyrics and introspective personality of frontman
Aaron Lewis. While other post-grunge bands were successful in mining the dark caverns once explored by
Soundgarden and
Alice in Chains,
Lewis allowed his sensitivity to pour freely from his words and often pensive vocals, enabling
Staind to strike a balance between heavy metal bombast and thoughtful, melodic rock. After the band went on hiatus in 2011,
Lewis embarked on a solo country career with the EP
Town Line. He continued to blaze his own rootsy path on Billboard-charting full-length efforts like
The Road (2012),
Sinner (2016), and
State I'm In (2019). In 2021, he landed his first number one country single with "Am I the Only One," which appeared on 2022's rootsy
Frayed at Both Ends.
Born in Springfield, Vermont,
Lewis listened to folk music as a child. The son of divorced parents, he chronicled the emotional turmoil in his childhood with
Staind, namely on tracks like "Epiphany" and "For You," from
Break the Cycle. Like the late
Kurt Cobain from
Nirvana,
Lewis cast an unpretentious, no-frills image, exhibiting a brooding disposition and emotional vulnerability that troubled youths could relate to.
Lewis recorded his first album with
Staind, Tormented, in 1996. The band remained on the fringes of mainstream acceptance until "Outside," a live collaboration between
Lewis and
Limp Bizkit's
Fred Durst during the 1999 Family Values Tour, blew up on alternative and mainstream rock stations a year later. With only his acoustic guitar as his musical backing,
Lewis delivered a raw, anguished performance of a song that
Staind would later record in the studio for
Break the Cycle. The track carved the path for
Staind's subsequent commercial breakthrough.
The group sustained a decade of popularity before
Lewis broke free with a solo career in 2011, refashioning himself as a conservative country singer on his 2011 EP
Town Line. He had some success with the set, but before he could capitalize on his country career, he reunited with
Staind for an eponymous album in 2011. In 2012, he prepped his full-length country debut,
The Road, which appeared toward the end of the year. Thanks to the minor hits "Endless Summer," "Country Boy," and "Forever," the album went to seven on Billboard's country chart, and he followed it with another country long-player,
Sinner, in the fall of 2016. The record debuted at number one on Billboard's country chart and at four on the Top 200.
Lewis released the non-LP single "Folded Flag" in 2017, but it took him another two years to deliver
State I'm In, his third solo album. Produced by
Buddy Cannon, who also helmed
Sinner,
State I'm In arrived in April 2019, preceded by the singles "The Bottom," "State I'm In," and "It Keeps on Workin'." In 2021,
Lewis issued the fiery, right wing-leaning single "Am I the Only One," which soared to number one on the country charts. Two more rootsy singles, "Goodbye Town" and "Pull Me Under," arrived later that year. All three tracks appeared on
Lewis' fourth full-length effort, 2022's
Frayed at Both Ends. ~ Michael Sutton