Aaron Maxwell plays guitar and sings about half the lead vocals in God Street Wine. Here for your pleasure is

All About Aaron

Introductory Paragraphs

One of the hardest things that I have learned about myself, is that- I am indeed a musician. I remember when I was growing up people would often ask me what it was that I wanted to pursue in my life. I had absolutely no idea. Music? That was just something that I did for the fun of it. I started out playing the trumpet in fourth grade, and continued up until graduating from high school. I played in the school orchestra, which in my opinion, was much cooler than the marching band. Looking back, I am very happy that I chose that route. My parents were, and still are, music teachers. My father, Harold Lieberman, is a Professor of music at Ramapo College in NJ, and my mom Toby, teaches youngsters how to play the piano. Growing up I was always exposed  to music, and there was always a piano, or trumpet around for me to pick up. I remember driving with my father and listening to jazz radio. I was always astounded by his ability to name every song, say who the musicians were, and sing the solos note for note. I would try to imitate him when I myself listened to music. Now that I think about it, those were my first exercises in ear training. One of the most important things my father would tell me was, before you can play anything on your instrument, you first must be able to hear it in your own head. That is something I have tried to apply since then, it is always my goal when playing in GSW.- Sometimes I even achieve that goal. Anyway, I started getting into rock and roll in junior high school. Groups like The Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, etc... All the usual classic rock bands that every suburban kid likes at one time or another growing up. My friend Josh had a guitar and an amp, and I would go over to his house after school and he would turn up really loud and play blues licks. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard, so I asked him to show me a few chords, which he did. I guess I got pretty into it, and convinced my parents to buy me a guitar. They bought me this piece of junk for 15 dollars, which I later smashed in the bushes by my house, and I learned how to play the blues scale, and a few chords. I continued to play all throughout high school with friends, but the last thing I thought I would be doing wasÝ playing rock and roll for a living. I started getting more and more into jazz after high school, and after meandering for a while, I finally decided that I wanted to go to music school. I auditioned at the Manhattan School of Music and to my surprise, I was accepted. It was there that I first met Lo and Dan, who were in some of the same classes as me. It turned out that I lived on the same block as they did, and we started hanging out. One day Lo expressed to me that he had written a lot of songs, some of which he had recorded on his Fostex 4-track. He asked me if I wanted to try to sing a couple of them. I had never really sang anything very seriously before, but I told him I would give it a shot. I had never really thought about lyrics so much before, it was always the music that I listened to first. It was not until recently that I have started to think of myself as a singer, and knowing what a song is about, makes it so much easier to put myself into the song.

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
Date of Birth: December 02, 1967
Astrological sign: Sagittarius
Where were you born? Englewood Hospital, Englewood, NJ
Where did you grow up? Ridgewood, NJ
Nickname? None as a kid. Too many to say these days.

Strangest show... That might have been a show we played in Columbia MO. at a club called The Blue Note. About 30 people showed up in a place that held at least 800. There were many strange goings on that night like, we had a couple of people come up onstage to play guitar solos even though they didn't know how to play. Eventually, we had the entire audience crowd around the front of the stage, and we posed for a picture with the entire audience.
What do you do when not thinking about music? I am a homebody. I like hanging out on my couch watching movies with my girlfriend and my cat.
Who did you look up to as a kid? Every New York Yankee player, but especially Gregg Nettles, Willie Randolph, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson etc.... Also, my parents.
What is the best thing about being in GSW? I get to play music for a living. God Street Wine is a band that enjoys exploring many different styles and directions. I am thankful that I can be in such a creative environment much of the time.
What would I be doing if not in GSW? I really have no idea. It has been a while since I wasn't in God Street Wine.
What don't people realize most about touring? It is hard work. Many people think that being in a rock band and traveling all over the place is like a vacation. There are definitely a lot of great things about being on the road like playing music every night; however, it is definitely no vacation.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians? I would say the most important thing to do is to have fun. After being in a band for this long and trying to "make it", so to speak, you sometimes lose sight of the pure joy that music has to offer. When everything is working right, there is nothing else like it in the world.

Meals? Sushi, Pizza, New York Bagels, Pasta and of course a good deli sandwich.
Beverages? Orange Juice, Arizona Green Tea, Water, Root Beer
Movies? Rear Window, The Manchurian Candidate, Raging Bull, Love and Death, High Anxiety, Spinal Tap, Delicatessen etc.
T.V. shows? The Simpsons, Seinfeld, ER, Twin Peaks, The Price is Right
Books? Any Vonegut, any tom Robbins, Dino(the biography of Dean Martin), Psycho-Cybernetics, etc....
Philosopher? I'll leave that up to Jon
Favorite albums? Etta James- Tell Mama, The Stones- Sticky Fingers, Jimi Hendrix- Electric Ladyland, King Crimson-Larks tongue in Aspic, Frank Zappa- One Size Fits All, Peter Gabriel-So, Talking Heads- Remain In Light, The Allman Brothers- Live at Fillmore East, The Grateful Dead- Workingman's Dead, Joni Mitchell- Shadows and Light. So many others that I can't think of right now.
Other music? Miles Davis- Kind of Blue, Charles Mingus- Mingus Mingus Mingus, Wes Montgomery- live at the half note., Glenn Gould- The Goldberg Variations., The best of Nina Samone, There are others but I am too tired to think of them right now.
GSW songs? I am very serious when I say that I love all of the songs we play. I feel that I could find something new no matter how many times we play something. Although, I will say that there is something about the jam of Imogene that when it's working, takes me to a place I don't get to very often.
Favorite Bands?  The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Beck, Cake, anything done from the heart.
Sports team/athletes? New York Yankees, Monica Seles, Pete Sampras, David Cone.
Computer Game? Tomb Raider, Resident Evil
Favorite Websites? The Surrealistic Compliment Generator

What do you wear in bed? Sometimes boxer briefs, sometimes I go in the raw.
What is your worst habit? I worry too much
What kind of car do you drive? Volvo
What pets do you have? A Cat
What medications? Hmmmmm.
What kind of condoms do you use? When I can find them I like Kimono condoms.
What kind of animal would you be? A Cat
What skills do you have? I can catch a grape in my mouth from great distances.
Breakfast? Cereal, bagel, O.J.,eggs?

Philosophy of life.  If you can't eat it, then it's not worth having.