Zach Aaron: Fill Dirt Wanted
Zach Aaron’s latest album, Fill Dirt Wanted, is his follow up to 2017’s Murder of Crows, released on May 15. Honestly, I didn’t know if we would even see many albums released after March this year. With the shutdown of venues, restaurants and bars, the climate of the economy of performing arts was so uncertain. Artists were no longer able to tour to promote upcoming or recently released albums. For independent artists like Zach Aaron, that is the most effective way to support their work. They don’t have big budget labels advertising their music. So many artists opted to postpone their releases or, conversely, took to heavily hitting social media and music publications to promote their albums. Zach and his team chose to do the latter.
Photo by Kayla Raborn
Watching Zach’s star shining brighter in the last few months leading up to and after the album release, he’s garnered much praise within the Texas music scene and all the way to Europe and even Australia. Hopefully, when touring is back on the table, we get to see him take his live show to the fans in those markets. In the meantime, Zach has been promoting his latest album through social media livestreams, along with performing live at a few socially distant small venues or private events. In addition to performances, Zach, along with his producer and percussionist, Giovanni “Nooch” Carnuccio III, have been putting together some comical and entertaining music videos to accompany the tracks for Fill Dirt Wanted.
Painted on the back of Zach’s guitar is the Woody Guthrie quote, “All you can write is what you see.” And that’s exactly what Zach Aaron does, and does well. His lyrics chronical the hard-working Texan’s life in the true Woody Guthrie or Townes Van Zandt folk song style. The only difference is that he weaves his dry sense of humor into many of the songs. His prose becomes very reminiscent of the more eccentric John Prine tracks. I think this fashion makes those songs even more relatable. Sometimes the seemingly absurd is the most real-life thing we experience. Zach proves that lyric ideas can be sparked from any of life’s observations. From seeing a “Fill Dirt Wanted” sign to the “Potato Salad” served at one’s own funeral, he covers a lot of bases. His songs aren’t all tongue-in-cheek though. He has some heavy tracks in “Shelter of the Storm” and “Animal of Burden.”
Zach cited that they easily came to a consensus for a track list, and the result is this 12-song success. Zach boasted that the team was extremely easy to work with and he couldn’t have asked for a more cohesive recording experience. He was really impressed with the effort that everyone put into the creation of the album. Recorded live to tape at Breathing Rhythm Studios in Norman, Oklahoma, his producer (Carnuccio) brought in Steve Boaz for engineering and percussion duties, Lauren January (vocals), David Leach (upright bass, piano) and Kevin “Haystack” Foster (guitar, fiddle, banjo, resonator, dobro, mandolin, harmony vocals) with Nooch, himself, (drums, percussion, vocals) to round out the studio band.
The title track, plucked straight off of a roadside sign, is a modest acoustic tune with a dejected narrator examining his faults and realizing that he is the only one that can fill the voids he has created in his life. “Fill dirt wanted / I gotta fill a hole / No one to blame / I dug it on my own.”
Zach’s favorite track on the album, “Animal of Burden,” relays how that figure of speech refers to the sometimes back-breaking work folks endure just to get by in life. He examines whether we are living to work or working to live. With a pulsating rhythm, Zach pounds through the lyrics, “Work, work, work / That’s my game / I’m comin’ up short at the end of the day […] / I’m an animal of burden / I know my place / Fueling all the fires in a rich man’s race / Breaking my back with a smile on my face.” That pain-staking way of life is something he witnesses among his fellow Texans and in his own effort to make ends meet. From Texas to Arizona and back again, Zach has grown up around and lived that life as well. When he isn’t making music, he is a full-time laborer, rides saddle broncs in rodeos around Texas and is creating beautiful leather work pieces. What started as a hobby after receiving some small tools from a family friend, has turned into quite the side hustle that he really enjoys. Zach creates custom pieces - everything from belts, guitar straps, gun holsters to chaps. I encourage you to look him up at Buffalo Scooter Leather Works, if you are in the market for such an item.
On the same topic of hard-working Americans, Zach was inspired to write “C.C.C.” after watching a PBS documentary program about the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. Growing up in a time of plenty, he was enthralled by the fact that these men were so grateful for the work, three square meals a day, and for many, the first time ever owning more than one pair of shoes. “But the CCC is the working man's way / Instead of walking around in circles / I get three squares a day / a short handle shovel and two pairs of shoes / The CCC is alright by me.”
“Southeast Texas Trinity River Bottom Blues” might be one of the biggest mouth-full song titles I have ever encountered. But considering this track is well over 550 words and it presents a lineup of peculiar characters in this tongue-in-cheek amalgamation, it’s no wonder. The song is co-written with Josh Delafuente and Nigel Carey. Carey, who once owned a gas station in Cleveland, TX, would tell Zach wild and amusing stories about the various customers he would encounter. So, the three set out to bring those characters and their tales to life. The song is an up-tempo, banjo-filled folly about the relationships, including the fortunes and misfortunes, of the locals and it’s downright quirky and clever.
One of my absolute favorites on the album is “Shelter of the Storm.” It’s a heartfelt ballad co-written with Kayla Ray about a friend who succumbs to his two-year battle with cancer. That friend happens to be the aforementioned, Nigel Carey. Playing off of the Bob Dylan lyrics of “Shelter from the Storm” which hung above Nigel and his wife’s bed, Zach crafted this emotional rendering. The Carey’s owned a bar called the Whiskey Barrell where Zach first started playing live shows. He played their grand opening, held his first album release party there and even played the final night of business for the bar. Zach was very fond of Nigel and his wife, Michelle, and wanted to give reverence to their love for each other and friendship to him.
Another favorite, “Aztec Café,” bookends the album nicely with a waltz written by Zach, Jon Dews and John Dempsy. It’s a storyteller song that plays out in a border town cantina. It has all the elements you’ll come to recognize in a South Texas murder ballad: love, revenge, absconsion, redemption.
Fill Dirt Wanted is rootsy, empathetic, witty and frank. The album’s instrumental arrangements are melodic and expressive while scaled back just enough to let the lyrics be the standout component. Zach Aaron’s lyrics take stock in realities – tender and tarnished. The tapestry of the album is weaved with angst, hardship, compassion, hope and humor. He absorbs his environment and relays it in anecdotes that are as relevant to the bygone era of his folk influences as they are to modern day America. See for yourself as you dive into the latest album from the Southeast Texas troubadour.
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