User:IndtAithir/Aaron Raitiere

Aaron Raitiere (b. 1982) is an American songwriter and visual artist raised in the hills around Danville, Kentucky. His work "Leavin' You For Me" won Honorable Mention in the 2005 International Songwriting Competition for Roots/Americana Music after reaching the final round in a competition against over 11,000 entries from more than 70 countries, as well as being showcased during the 2010 Kentucky Writers' Day celebration. His influences include John Prine, Howlin' Wolf, Doc Watson, Dave Van Ronk, Guy Clark, and Beck. His music has been described as ". . . a sound you've heard before...... like Willie, Waylon, Townes, Jerry Jeff, Tony Joe, Gram Parsons, Peter Rowan, Tom Russell, Paul Geremia . . . mostly songs about love, life, dogs, food, cars, people, places, love, and other stuff...call it traditional acoustic blues bluegrass alternative country with regular original words, and sometimes long words too, put to a melody, and sung with a drawl."

Early & Professional Life
Raitiere was raised in a musical family surrounded by the sounds of bluegrass, folk and blues music. While matriculated in college at Ithaca, New York, he formed his first band, Woodman.Milkman.Doctor. During these years, he also performed solo at venues such as the Lost Dog Lounge on Ithaca's Cayuga Street and with groups such as Wonder Monday at the Nines in Cornell's Collegetown. It was during these years that he started his collaboration with Binghamton-native Chris Merkely.

The Woodman.Milkman.Doctor trio recorded a 2004 album entitled Logs, Milk and Medicine, blending Raitiere’s mix of humorous and heartfelt lyrics with sounds alternating country, blues, rock and pop genres. The group disbanded. Raitiere continued his musical interset, moving first to Austin, Texas, and later to Gainesville, Florida. Within a year of the Logs, Milk and Medicine release, Raitiere release his solo 2005 album, titled Lazy Dog. Raitiere then left Florida to pursue his master's in audio engineering at Middle Tennessee State University and, in 2009, graduated. After taking his advanced degree, Raitiere moved to Lobelville, Tennessee to focus on songwriting.

Raitiere is now the President and CEO of One Tooth Records, a recording label based in Nashville, Tennessee. One Tooth Records has produced and distributed recordings by Raitiere, including A Collection of Smidgets, Boogers, and Half-Songs, Country Songs, Kissin’ Machine, and Lazy Dog. For Chris Merkley, One Tooth has produced Nighttime Daydream, One Foot and Small Change. Billyblues has also worked with One Tooth in the creation of Third Shot. One Tooth Records has also released Raitiere's 2010 album "Songs for Cool Kids", jointly with Old Boy Records.

Visual Artist
Aaron Raitiere is also a visial artist, exhibiting artwork at the Danville Community Arts Center. His witty “sketches and scribbles” vary from ink drawings on 3- by 5-inch canvases to larger pieces, such as the monkey. Like his music, Raitiere’s work is prolific, featuring nearly 100 pieces combining colorful characters in humorous surroundings, quick, simple, and to-the-point.

Critical Reviews
In both solo and supporting performances, Raitiere is noted as a cross-over artist capable of moving between folk, country, blues and rock. The performance collaborationextends to other performers as well:

"I had been kicking around some stuff in the computer when we started putting it together,' Merkely said. 'But it seems like there's an album in there despite being pretty varied.' He recorded outside of Nashville (hence the album's title) in Mufreesboro, Tenn., working with former Ithacan Aaron Raitiere. Crooners bandmate Kevin Denton, who also plays in the Sutras, came along for the ride 'just to be an extra set of creative ears', Merkely said. 'If he had something in his head, I told him to lay it down himself.  Same with Aaron, too.  And when we needed group stomp things we all crowded around the microphones and made a ruckus."

Rocks Out
Country music reviews have acknowledged Raitiere's successes while noting his failures. Juxtaposing two recent releases, Jessica Pace of the Murfeesboro Pulse stated that if " . . . Strange Angel wasn’t as successful, Rocks Out would probably be less of a disappointment. Strange Angel, though of a different genre than Rocks Out, was a work of clever songwriting and solid, if minimalist, guitar playing. Unfortunately, [Rocks Out] . . . falls short on both counts. The grittiest of rock ‘n’ roll albums is forgiven a certain amount of sloppiness and imprecision if the arrangement and playing style can compensate, but Rocks Out offers little in those departments. It sounds as if it’s 4 a.m., Raitiere has swallowed half the bar and decided to lay down 14 tracks."

Strange Angel
Regarding Strange Angel, Pace remarked, "Strange Angel, a stripped, rambling collection of songs for the roots junkie . . . ricochets from tough to tender. In 10 tracks, Raitiere is both unapologetically tawdry and artistically romantic, though the lyrics – no matter what tune he happens to be singing – are meticulously crafted but sound natural . . . The recording doesn’t hide behind a lot of fine-tuning; it sounds like you’re in the room with the artist, and Raitiere is fine with sticking to the acoustic, focusing instead on the songwriting. If there’s a sameness in the songs, it’s from a lack of instrumental variety. The most appealing aspect of the album is its homelessness. Raitiere knows his roots music and geography, but never picks a place and stays there. A little bit of flavor from every region in America springs up in the music and lyrics, from the southwest to the eastern mountains. It’s when Raitiere sings of the nomadic lifestyle and burning through lovers all over the country that the album really wins you over."

Songs for Cool Kids
Bracken Mayo's review of Raitiere’s offering in the childrens' genre stated that the album "features upbeat acoustic guitar and an exaggerated Southern twang . . . . The album is fun and simple enough so a year-and-a-half-old can enjoy it and recognize words like monkeys and bath, but Raitiere truly speaks with the wisdom of a 5-year-old as he sings 'Don’t eat glue, don’t eat your shoe,' . . . . The album is not totally filled with fun and lighthearted happiness; material also includes 'There’s bugs in my bed,' and a terrifying encounter with a quarter-ton bigfoot attacking a school of fish with his razor-sharp teeth resulting in a lake full of fish blood. . . . But for the most part, everything is light and cheerful, and young or old, these songs will stick in your head. While ridiculously silly and nonsensical at times, Songs for Cool Kids should be a reminder to any artist to have fun, be creative and not take yourself too seriously. Don’t be afraid just because you don’t have a youngster around. . . celebrate the fact that silly can be very enjoyable.

Lazy Dog
Of Raitiere's first extensive work, Lazy Dog, Jeffrey Russell wrote, "[s]ometimes simplicity and melody are just the way to go, and Aaron Raitiere’s latest album Lazy Dog is a perfect example. With influences including Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf and Gram Parsons, Raitiere’s mix of acoustic blues, country and bluegrass presents impressive songwriting, and is also pleasing to the average ear. . . . In many regards, Raitiere shows the signs of a true storyteller, bringing his down-home Kentucky upbringing to the forefront. By listening to the album you can understand why Murfreesboro resident Raitiere is more than just another modern dirty bluegrass player, he grasps in detail the images of the country lifestyle. He takes the simple life and presents a picturesque scenario, revealing the humor of country life, but also the troubles of the common working man. The only issue with this album is it lacks variety, and a few of the songs sound a bit too similar, but this may because Raitiere is following a distinctive bluegrass/country style. With a degree from Cornell and an Honorable Mention Award in 2005 for the International Songwriting Competition. . . Raitiere has shown his talent in arrangement and melody. His deep, smooth voice is able to carry the message of his songs well, and his delivery of lyrics is very deliberate, allowing the song to build almost to the breaking point, but then slowly falling back to his hook lines, leaving room for the listener to take a deep breath and relax. Raitiere’s use of simple three-chord progressions actually makes it that much more enjoyable to listen to. The production of the album is not bad for a lower budget recording, but the feel of the actual sound makes you think to a time sitting with friends by the fire and talking about everything from work to old flames.

Education
Raitiere took his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He also took his master of arts degree in Recording Engineering the Technology from Middle Tennessee State University.

Association
At Cornell University, Raitiere competed on the Men’s Varsity Swimming and Diving Team, joined the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and through that organization, the Irving Literary Society.