By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Aaron Einhouse gets real on his new album, just like life has gotten real for the Texas singer in the last couple of years.
With the May 13 release of It Ain't Pretty, Einhouse said he thinks he may have turned a corner in his career.
"I think in the past I've shied away from serious — I don't want to say depressing, but not necessarily upbeat things," Einhouse said. "I've tackled some of those in this (new album) with good reason, and I think it's some of the best stuff I've ever written."
Before Einhouse — who'll return to Amarillo for a 9 p.m. Saturday show with Stoney LaRue at Midnight Rodeo, 4400 S. Georgia St.; cover is $10 in advance or $12 day of show for ages 21 and older, or $15 for ages 18 to 21 — dove into the recording process for It Ain't Pretty, his wife suffered a late-term miscarriage.
"It hit us really hard, and that's when I started writing a lot of this stuff," Einhouse said. "It was tough on us from a marriage standpoint and tough on us as human beings."
That reflected in the writing process.
"I think I was fed up with trying to write happy songs and ended up doing this," he said. "I think it kind of suits me more.
"I'm a pretty happy person, and I don't like to be a downer, but I think I'm a very thoughtful person," he said. "Analyzing that stuff and writing about it suits me a little bit more. I think it's deeper and more complex."
He's hoping that the resulting album, which is already garnering solid reviews, could be "a turning point" in his career.
"I think it's going to put us on the right path for succes," he said. "We're pivoting in terms of sound and the overall tone of the band ... and I think it really captures the energy and the emotion of our live show, which is very high-energy."
It also gives listeners a peek into Einhouse's private life and how it can conflict with his public life.
Lead-off track "Dancin'" "is about being in two different lives," he said. "To have this dumba-- career that we have, where I have to drive all over the place and be gone all the time, that kind of pi---- my wife off sometimes, generally speaking. And then to have this bad thing happen..."
But there's comfort in the road, too, Einhouse said.
"You can kind of turn it off and forget about it for a little while," he said. "You can go out and have fun and forget whatever's going on."
That sums up the title track's philosophy.
"It ain't pretty, but it's real," he said. "Life isn't pretty, but that's how it is for everybody. The bad's got to be there for the good to shine through. But the other thing is, just because it's not pretty doesn't mean it can't be beautiful.
"The difference between those two words has a lot to do with what this record is about — that things, from an outward standpoint, can look disheveled and messed up, but you know, in my case, I have a devotion to my wife and she has the same thing for me, and I think there's a lot of beauty in that.
"It can be a mess sometimes, but you try to make it work and do your best, and that's all you can hope for."
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and at www.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
