Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, The Everly Brothers, The Band, Neil Young/Crazy Horse, Beatles, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Allman Brothers Band, Band of Gypsies/Jimi Hendrix, Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, The Who, Jethro Tull, Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.B. King, Jr. Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Townes Van Zandt, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Magnolia Electric Company, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, North Mississippi Allstars, Big Sugar, Thrush Hermit, and most anything half-good that catches my ear
My business card says, "Aaron Goldstein: Pedal Steel Guitar - Guitar - Bass - Drums - Composition - Production" because I do all of that pretty capably, but the truth is I spend most of my time behind the steel, and also often playing guitar and singing.
These days my time is pretty heavily consumed by a few key projects:
I'm also a founding member of the fairweather collective known as The Surly Young Bucks.
And I guess my plate wouldn't be full enough if I didn't have a couple outlets for some cover tunes, so I also play guitar and sing in a band called The Midnight Shift, a trio which pounds out nothing but the slickest, most scorching rockabilly from the earlier half of Buddy Holly's catalogue; and I play pedal steel in a country band called Stumbleweed, which starts somewhere around George Jones and ends somewhere at Gram Parsons, but also includes some original material as well.
Oh, and at one time I wrote, sang and played guitar and steel with The Achievers.
I'm available for sessions and gigs on any of the instruments I play (though I mostly stick to guitar and steel these days). Please contact me at goldstein dot aaron at gmail dot com if you wish to hear additional samples of my work.
I also dabble in Guruism; specifically, I've been known to advise the members of Arkells on everything from the brand of toothpaste they should be using (when they use toothpaste at all) to the regimen by which they should be trimming their toenails - though I should mention that my expertise is not limited to the realm of personal hygiene. I'm also into digital audio editing and production on a nerdly level, and possess an unfathomably abundant knowledge of music trivia.
Thanks for checking out what I'm up to.
"I passionately hate the idea of being 'with it', I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time."
Orson Welles
"Oh, The Boss Is Coming" (with Arkells)
October 13, 2007 at the Pepper Jack Cafe, Hamilton
Thanks to Matt Thompson for taking and posting the above video.
"1000 Leagues Into Your Mind" (with The Spades)
March 1, 2008 at the Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
Thanks to Jason Craig for filming the above video.
Aaron Goldstein as The Good Rev. Overdrive's Friend Space (Top 16)
Aaron Goldstein as The Good Rev. Overdrive has 678 friends.
Looks like you're keeping busy. Have you thought about getting "THE GOOD REVEREND OVERDRIVE" on your steel like that guy from that blues band you like?
Great tunes here Aaron, thanks a lot for the add! Wow, looks like you're keeping busy, it also looks like you're in T.O. for NXNE. Come check us out at the Silver Dollar on Saturday real late if you're around.
Matt Paxton (vocals,acoustic) Bill Dillon (Electric Guitar, Piano) of Joni Mitchell, Counting Crows, Robbie Robertson, Gordon Lightfoot Aaron Goldstein (Pedal Steel) of The Surly Young Bucks, The Spades, Dan Griffin & His Regrets, Jawbone Carl Jennings (Bass) of Freedom Train Tony Valcic (Drums) of Michelle Titian, Chantal Kreviazuk
Cripes, I'm sorry Aaron. I just put it together who you are. I guess the pedal steel in the photo wasn't enough to connect the dots back to all of three days ago. All I can tell you is I'm being worked into the ground and am not getting the details of everything at all times.
