Aaron Lee Tasjan: A ‘Stellar Evolution’ Into Dance-y Americana For Dark Times

Aaron Lee Tasjan has a lot of tools in his musical toolbox. He may primarily be thought of as an Americana artist, but he’s also been a touring guitarist for the New York Dolls and a member of NYC glamsters Semi Precious Weapons and Georgia rockers Drivin N Cryin. He’s toured with Sheryl Crow and Greta Van Fleet, as well as Cheap Trick and Marcus King.

A musician’s musician, Nashville-based Tasjan is a Grammy-nominated songwriter as well, for his work on Yola’s “Diamond Studded Shoes,” for which he received a nod for Best American Roots Song in 2021, as well as for Song of the Year by the Americana Music Honors & Awards. He was also nominated for the latter as Best Emerging Artist in 2017.

Tasjan is unbothered by the constrictions of genre. His agent, Brian Jonas of High Road Touring, says, “Aaron’s morphed into a lot of different things over the eight years that I’ve been booking him. And the hardest thing to do is to pigeonhole him or explain what kind of genre his music is and put him in a box. That’s the reason I like [his music] – it can’t be in a box.”

Tasjan’s April release, Stellar Evolution, couldn’t be better titled, representing his growth as an artist. He describes the new direction as “dance-y Americana” that lyrically reflects the unease of his, and his community’s, state of being in a politically fraught climate, yet communicates a sense of joy.

Tasjan’s Threads bio includes the description “queer af,” and though his identity isn’t something he’s necessarily put front-and-center of his musical output in the past, but it’s always been part of Tasjan’s truth. With Stellar Evolution and the June 18 release of a remix of the album’s track “Nightmare” in honor of Pride Month, Tasjan’s truth is unmistakable.

In addition to reflecting Tasjan’s creative growth, the projects serve to give voice to his community, as politicians in Tennessee and beyond are emboldened to legislate against LGBTQ+ citizens and arguably enable those who would commit violence against them.

To remix “Nightmare,” Tasjan invited Black trans producer extraordinaire Lefemmebear, who made waves with her 2021 remix of Reba McEntire’s anthemic “I’m A Survivor,” to produce the track and add a verse telling her own story. It made an instant fan of Tasjan.

“I was like, man, this is a very deep approach to what’s happening,” he says. “I reached out to Lafemme, just as a fan, thinking if I ever had a chance to have her remix one of my songs, I’d take it.”

“Nightmare” offered just that opportunity, and Tasjan told Lefemmebear that if she felt so inspired, to feel free to add to it. “She came back to me and said, ‘I was listening to the lyrics and I really feel what you’re saying,’ Tasjan remembers. “‘As a trans person, I can add my own story to the song in a verse, if you’d be interested in that.’ I was like, man, are you kidding me?”

The remix juxtaposes a club beat with the real fear of becoming the victim of a hate crime just walking down a street. The anticipation and fear are visceral – as the song’s protagonist goes out for a night of dancing, Tasjan sings, “I want all my friends to know I love ‘em, just in case I should disappear.”

“Part of the reason I wanted to focus lyrically more on my life as a queer person on this record is the sort of reaction to what you’re seeing in the news and in the world,” Tasjan says. “As a queer person, you feel called to defend your people in those circumstances. But I was feeling really inspired to do something, musically, that had some sort of intrinsic joy to it – the sound of the music, to feel joyful and dancey. I think it’s kind of punk rock!”

It does take the poppy sensibility of his previous album, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, which earned new admirers including Elton John, to another level. But like most of Tasjan’s work, Stellar Evolution is a record that begs multiple listens, as a complete statement.

It jumps from the synthy opener “Alien Space Queen,” a danceable ode to transfemininity, to “The Drugs Did Me,” which evokes an oddball, early Beck vibe. “The Horror Of It All,” “Pants,” and “Cry Til You’re Laughing” stand out and John Prine’s influence is evident in “I Love America Better Than You” – anyone who’s loved “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” will appreciate the update. And the album version of “Nightmare,” while sonically transformed in the Lefemmebear remix, is just as powerful.

Manager Keith Hagan of MNRK Management is relatively new to the Aaron Lee Tasjan team, having signed on about a year and a half ago.

“The beautiful thing about Aaron Lee [is] he’s decided he can be whoever he wants to be. And it just so happens he makes great records,” Hagan says. “I don’t think a lot of other artists could have made such a sonic pivot like this successfully. But listen to Stellar Evolution. This record is opening up all these different new lanes and new avenues for him.”

Tasjan embarked on a U.S. tour immediately after the release of Stellar Evolution, and continues in clubs through late August, including stops at New Orleans’ venerable Chickie Wah Wah, the Continental Club in Houston, and 3Ten at Austin City Limits before decamping for a European leg. Jonas is eyeing another U.S. outing for him in 2025.

“Aaron has respect and goodwill surrounding him and he’s going to get work in the touring space because of the work he’s done. And other artists love him and respect him,” Jonas says. “I put him in the rooms where I think he’s going to have the most success, and with artists who make sense. After that, [marketing him] is beyond my control.

“[On earlier records], there was some element of him trying to sound like he should. And I think within the last three albums, he’s been like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to be who I am.’”

For Aaron Lee Tasjan, the most important tool in his toolbox may just be himself.