Aaron Lee Tasjan - Get Over It, Underdog (CD)

Aaron Lee Tasjan was experiencing the worst bout of imposter syndrome of his career when he sat down and wrote Todd Snider a vulnerable email asking for advice. Tasjan, despite writing and recording some of the most astute Americana rock songs of the last decade and being nominated for a Grammy, just didn't see a future for an independent singer, songwriter, and guitarist like himself. Snider read Tasjan's email and immediately replied: "I think I have some ideas. I'll write you back tomorrow." The next morning, Tasjan awoke to a signature Todd Snider missive for how to move forward as an artist. It was a novel-length email that read like the battle plans for the Invasion of Normandy. Do this, Snider wrote. Then this. But never that. The specifics don't matter — besides, that'd be giving away the secret — but Tasjan devoured his mentor's words and took them to heart. Over 11 tracks, Tasjan's new album kills sacred cows and pokes holes in the dam, while leaning hard into the idea of perseverance. Tasjan took pains to make sure that each song on Get Over It, Underdog was as concise and potent as it could be. Often, he'd run them by Snider for critiques, who shared stories of how the American songwriting treasure John Prine did likewise for him early in his career. The goal in writing was always to find the "emotional rock to stand on" of each song. Once Tasjan had that, he learned from Snider, he had something personal.