Paul Wellstone, The Beatles, John Vanderslice, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Laura Veirs, Page France, P.O.S., Low, Jeff Buckley, Otis Redding, Tower of Power, Ben Vereen, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Br. Paul Richards, James Dennihan, Wayne Naus, Pat Pattison, Charles Sorrento and countless others...
Sounds Like
We used all kinds of instruments on American Junk including old drum machines (Oberheim), ancient Casio Synths, a broken drumset, brushes on a Shakespeare book and plenty of different guitars and effects. I wanted the album to have the sound of "American Junk," i.e. old instruments and nostalgic sounds, etc....
Born and raised in Central Minnesota, Aric Bieganek grew up infused with the belief that music can both tell stories and inspire personal and social change. His perspective and his songs -– from the introspectively placid to the passionately outspoken -– all embody this belief, just as they have since he was a little boy playing his first plastic guitar. Although Aric has traveled as far east as Japan, as far north as Iceland, and across the United States in his trusty Ford, his connection to his roots is evident in all the poetry and fervor of his songwriting.
Minnesota! Land of 10,000 Lakes, grassroots politics and the hard-working American…and land of MacGyver, the Mall of America, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and Jesse “The Body” Ventura. This is the state responsible for both hot dish and Bob Dylan, and it is unsurprising that American Junk is such a complex mix of the contemplative and the hard-boiled. Aric’s frank, unaffected lyricism as well as a rich blend of sounds culled from outdated, broken, and otherwise unlikely instruments combine to create an album that transitions smoothly from the bittersweet nostalgia of “SC Excavating” to the eerie homage of “Some Inspiration” to the brass-knuckled sarcasm of “Number 1.”
Currently performing from the East Coast to the Middle States, Aric has played venues ranging from theatres and bars, to coffee houses and the occasional grocery store. Wherever you see him, you can be sure he will be singing straight from the heart, using music to tell his own story of the absurdity, gloom, and splendor of American life.
Aric currently resides in Easthampton, MA. In addition to his solo material, Aric also performs as a children’s musicianand sometimes as a member of Oweihops, and was a member of the now defunct Northernly.
Hey Aric, I hope all is well with you! Join us for an evening of Oldtime & Bluegrass on Feb 2nd! Open Mic 7PM-8:45PM. Feature bands from 9:00-12:00. Matt Nozzolio, Lost Mountain, & Appalachian Still. Questions? 413-563-4016
Nice job tonight. You could totally be in "Rent" if "Rent" was awesome. I guess what I mean is, you have a really good voice. Like REALLY good. Right on.
Hey hope all is well. If you have any songs that you need mixed or an engineer drop me a line I will do it for free. Yes, I can work with protools files and Logic pro both. (And anything else you want to throw my way)
