Skip to content

Family is the focus for rocker Lee Aaron

Lee Aaron returns to rock music after 20 year hiatusĀ 
040816_Lee_aaron
Lee Aaron takes the stage at Theatre Cambrian for Songs of Summer on Aug. 19. Supplied photo.

When Lee Aaron takes the stage at Theatre Cambrian on Aug. 19 for Songs of Summer, it will be a slight departure from her “Metal Queen” days of the 1980s.

Aaron, born Karen Lynn Greening, went to high school in Brampton, where she sang and played saxophone, before launching her music career in 1982 with her debut album “The Lee Aaron Project”.

More than 30 years later, with 10 Juno nominations and her 11th album released earlier this year, she now makes her home in British Columbia with her family.

“I don't get to come back to Ontario all that often anymore since I'm not really touring,” said Aaron. “I still come to visit family who live in the Kingston area, and I'll be back later this year because I recently found out that I'm going to be honoured on the Brampton Walk of Fame.”

Touring is something that the musician has had to leave in the past, as her family life has taken priority for the most part, though her passion still burns to write, record, and perform.

Balancing family and work is something that can be difficult in Aaron's line of work, but she's had other musicians who share her situation offer up helpful advice.

“I think the most I do now is about five shows in a row, but never really longer than that because I don't feel that it's healthy to be away from my family for that long,” said Aaron.

“It's funny because a few years back I opened up for Heart at a festival in North Bay, and Nancy Wilson (guitar player, Heart) and I were having this big conversation about striking a balance between having a normal life and music, and she was giving me tips about becoming a weekend warrior where you do the Monday to Friday school thing with the kids then you fly out of town and do a few shows on the weekend and I'm finding that it's really effective.”

When she is out on the road and playing shows, her mind still leans towards family as she has worked to tailor her shows to being as family-friendly as possible.

Fans from Lee Aaron's early days will still get to hear hits like Metal Queen, Watcha Do To My Body, Some Girls Do, and Hands On, along with around four or five songs from her latest album Fire and Gasoline.

The newest album is Aaron's first rock album in 20 years, as her previous two releases “Slick Chick” and “Beautiful Thing” were Jazz and Pop-Jazz hybrid albums respectively.

“When grunge music hit in the mid-1990's, the music industry needed a shake up because corporate rock had got kind of crappy, like a lot of genres do when they become co-opted by a corporate industry,” said Aaron.

“But what happened was a lot of artists, even those who had been around for a while, they kind of took a nosedive because nobody wanted to hear that any more - they wanted to hear Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Nirvana -  so I just sort of took a step back and took some musical diversions into different genres.”

The foray into Jazz and Blues were a blessing for Aaron, who says that it made her a better singer.

As far as what to expect from her newest release, Aaron says it's some of the old mixed with the new, but don't get confused by song titles like “Metal Queen”.

“It's still the Lee Aaron voice, I'd say it's a flavour of the past but with production that is very modern,” said Aaron.

“I've seen in other publications, things like “Metal Queen returns” but I want everyone to know that this isn't a metal show, it's very family-friendly, I try to put on a show that would be appropriate for my own kids.”

Lee Aaron performs at Songs of Summer on Aug. 19.

For ticket information and more visit www.theatrecambrian.ca or check out the Facebook event page.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.