Quotes
"Mozart of the Banjo is just spectacular! Aaron’s playing and overall musicality is just top notch. Bravo, what else can I say? Tone is fantastic, timing is spot on, just full of life. Piano playing is truly awesome. What a commitment" – astounding. -Jens Kruger
"I’m hugely impressed. Aaron brings back these good old days – I’m just loving it. Aaron is so deep inside this style and their playing is great." -Tony Trischka
"Aaron could sit in with any of the greats, Ossman, Van Eps, Bickford, Spaulding, Bowen, etc., and be at home." -Joel Hooks, American Banjo Fraternity
"A new shining star in banjo heaven has been discovered." Helmut Rheingans, Old Time News
“...Eclectic and high-spirited fiddling. Technically, they're a brilliant fiddler, able to blend genres at will, and they've got the kind of high-wire aggression that makes for compelling listening.” -Sing Out! Magazine
“I've heard quite a lot of old-time fiddle and banjo playing, trust me, but I've never heard it like this... played at break-neck speeds, Aaron's fiddle whipping around tight corners like a high-end sports car... It's like watching Bach hopped up on speed, composing kickass barn dance tunes in Appalachia... [Aaron is] a player you need to watch.” -No Depression
“So THAT'S what you meant by pedestrian fiddle music!!! I'm listening to Wild Hog and it's my favorite record I've heard in a long time by a long shot. Well done. It's so wrong in all the right ways and I love that. Excellent work and big big fun to listen to.” - Joseph 'Joebass' Dejarnette, Studio 808A
“Impressive fiddle work... authentically raw and homespun” -The Scotsman
“Every time that fella with the big beard picked up the banjo it was like I'd died and gone to heaven!” -Alastair Ferguson
“Aaron is blinding and probably the most perfect exponent of fiddling I've witnessed live (and I've witnessed a few). Others have their niches where they excel but Aaron's range and dexterity is quite awesome. Their unpretentious approach and their own obvious enjoyment in playing makes such a vast difference too.” -Colm Daley, The Newtowners
“Fiddlin' and banjoin' genius Aaron Jonah Lewis: multiple award-winning fiddler, banjo player extraordinaire, Aaron is well known for taking audiences at concerts and festivals by storm both here in the UK and in the USA... Aaron is rapidly becoming iconic, not just on account of their virtuosity but because of their rapport with their audience. Skills in abundance, passion and presence. All that, then in addition, charisma, pure creativity, and SOUL.” -Charlie Hardie, Willesden Folk Union
Interviews
PBS One Detroit Feature:
WDET (Detroit's NPR Station) CultureShift Feature · In interview with CultureShift’s Ryan Patrick Hooper, Lewis discusses the history of the banjo which has its roots in west Africa arriving on American shores during the transatlantic slave trade beginning in the 1600s but would eventually become a key cog in minstrel performances decades later. Aired January 16, 2020
Get Up in the Cool Podcast · Aaron Jonah Lewis and special guest accompanist Grace van’t Hof, recorded in June, 2020, for Earful of Fiddle Music and Dance Camp, over Zoom in front of a lovely Zoom audience. Aired September 20, 2020
Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast · Host Keith Billik is joined by talented multi-instrumentalist and dynamic performer Aaron Jonah Lewis. Aaron talks about and demonstrates many different styles that many banjo fans may not have heard before! Aired Feb 28, 2019
Banjo Chat with Hilary Hawke Podcast - Aaron talks about making music in Detroit and being a traveling musician. Thinking about the bigger picture, building community, finding the people who help you in your life. What it’s like making vinyl records again. Their Dos Senoritas album. Connecting to yourself and the people around you. Connecting with history, how banjo influenced ragtime music and how they've been using different arrangements and orchestration in ragtime banjo music. Some great perspective on how to support arts and music, and how their Banjo Dojo group music classes are harkening back to a more authentic way of learning music. “When you are playing a banjo, you are connected to something really deep." Aired March 19, 2024