Aaron Martin

Aaron Martin is an American multi-instrumentalist from Topeka, Kansas, United States. Beginning his musical life at age 11 switching between guitar and drums, Aaron soon discovered a typical American high school music diet aping Nirvana records wasn't his thing. The turning point came buying a CD of a cello quartet (Apocalyptica) performing Metallica songs. Hooked on its sound, he started learning to play cello at the relatively late age of 17.

Beginning his musical life at age 11 switching between guitar and drums, Aaron soon discovered a typical American high school music diet aping Nirvana records wasn't his thing. The turning point came buying a CD of a cello quartet (Apocalyptica) performing Metallica songs. Hooked on its sound, he started learning to play cello at the relatively late age of 17. His minimal, austere playing style remains a hallmark of his sound, having added a spectrum of instrumentation and a looper pedal to take his pieces into a more kaleidoscopic realm.

On his 2006's debut Almond, you'll hear guitar, lap steel, banjo, piano, ukelele, flute, toys and many more instruments and sound sources alongside the cello. Everything on Almond is played by Aaron, except for one solitary sample. His experimental-collage style builds loops into beguiling song forms of folkish charm and emotional resonance - similar to the uncanny pop sensibility fostered by acts such as Neutral Milk Hotel, The Books and Olivia Tremor Control. In their mesmerising way, they ring in the brain like a partially faded memory that stays with you, gradually revealing itself in full. Almond swells with joy, melancholy and whimsy in a kind of warm chemistry that's hard to pin down.

The 24-year old Aaron records where he resides, in an apartment on top of a retirement facility for Vietnam war veterans. He continues to teach cello and expand on the chemistry he's developed in the peculiar and surprising beauty of Almond.

http://www.myspace.com/prisonwine