Bio: Aaron Skiles--You may recognize Aaron Skiles’ name from the Bay Area-based band, Bourbon Therapy. The indie rock/alt-country band was fronted by Skiles and his wife Rebecca and released 1 full-length album, two EPs, and 12 singles before calling it quits. “No one’s fault,” Skiles reassures. “We couldn’t play any shows so two members moved out of town to make a go in another city. I doubled down on my writing and actually did get five Bourbon Therapy singles done and released in 2021. Writing a lot, I realized I had material that I really liked but wasn’t right for Bourbon Therapy. Some of these songs sounded more like Social Distortion or Weezer rather than mellow ballads so I figured these weren’t BT songs, but they were Aaron Skiles songs.”

Skiles reached out to fellow musician and friend, Matt Patton, to co-write most of the album with him. “Matt is an incredible musician and an amazing lyricist. For the most part he helped me make my lyrics more impactful, more memorable, and simply better. But he also helped with arrangements, on “Before You Go” and also with “On My Own”. And he was amazing as a vocal coach, pushing me to find the emotion in each song and to bring it to life. I’ve never been prouder of my vocal performance on any other project and I owe that to how Matt pushed me to get the most out of my vocals.” Of the eight songs on the album Matt Patton co-wrote six of them. “It all started with my basic demos and then Matt and I would email back and forth and we’d make changes.”

Wreckage From The Fire is clearly different in tone and mood from the music Skiles made with Bourbon Therapy. “This album is all me—and it’s rough around the edges, a bit raw and definitely hard hitting. Lyrically this album is more introspective and written almost entirely in the first-person, whereas BT music often tells stories of others. Music to me is a way to explain your place in the world, how you see things as they are, and how you wish they’d be. My goal is to write a song that tells the listener something of significance, whether through the lyrics or the instrumentation—or ideally both. I write songs that are meaningful to me and that I’d like to listen to. If someone else enjoys them as well, then that’s just gravy on the top as far as I’m concerned.”
The Great Dying--Will Griffith, known musically as The Great Dying, is a Mississippi Delta born, country singer-songwriter residing in Oxford, MS. Although Will doesn’t see his dark country musings as directly blues influenced. "I want people to celebrate sad music because of its beauty. Sad songs help you laugh at your own sadness. They are meant to help you keep going,” says Griffith. Punk rock, however, felt like Will’s blues and was devoid of the phoniness and commercialism that drove tourism in the area surrounding his hometown of Cleveland, MS.
Will’s first release as The Great Dying, Bloody Noses & Roses (2018) was released courtesy of Dial Back Sound, a production company and label located in Water Valley, MS. Netherlands music source Written In Music called it an “Intense and impressive debut.” The album was recorded and produced by Bronson Tew and Matt Patton (Drive By Truckers, Dexateens). Touring for the record so far has included a smattering of smaller solo appearances in California, and several two to three week runs in the Southeast as a duo of Griffith and guitarist Craig Pratt.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AaronSkilesMusic/ https://www.facebook.com/greatdyingmusic 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaronskilesmusic/ https://www.instagram.com/greatdying/

Website: www.AaronSkilesMusic.com http://www.dialbacksound.com/great-dying

Youtube: (Aaron Skiles) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVJu7O_sbEUnmYqlBrX99xA/null

Spotify: (Aaron Skiles) https://open.spotify.com/artist/4P8XtvIzgV6u2JdnutuS2S?si=PukYun5bTsG6g8HYpiMHnQ 

(Great Dying) https://open.spotify.com/artist/4tA5OIywhtSMAfUAstZDVb?si=RCTxFUGuQhyGuvyNy_M5vw