Aaron Embry (born November 10, 1975,

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total popu ...

) is an American songwriter and record producer. A periodic studio musician and touring pianist with artists such as

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

and

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. The group is led by singer Alex Ebert. The band's name is based on a story Ebert wrote in his youth, about a messianic figure named E ...

, he has also helped write albums by

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...

and produced albums by artists such as

Avi Buffalo Avi Buffalo (born Avigdor Benyamin Zahner-Isenberg, November 5, 1990) is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. Career Avi Buffalo's self-titled debut album was released on April 27, 2010, and was given positive reviews by ''The A.V. Clu ...

. In 2012 he released his solo album ''Tiny Prayers'' on

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home ...

Early life

Aaron Randall was born on November 10, 1975, in

. He was the first child of a screenwriter/

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

mother and

dental technician A dental technologist (dental laboratory technician) is a member of the dental team who, upon prescription from a dental clinician, constructs custom-made restorative and dental appliances. There are four major disciplines within dental technol ...

father, H. Charles and Karen Randall. He is the eldest of three siblings, including actor

Ethan Embry Ethan Embry (born June 13, 1978) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Mark in ''Empire Records'', Preston in ''Can't Hardly Wait'', The Bass Player in ''That Thing You Do!'', and as Bobby Ray in ''Sweet Home Ala ...

and photographer Kessia Randall.Ethan Embry profile
filmreference.com; accessed August 25, 2014. He began taking piano lessons as a child, and music became a focus of his life. While a high school junior, he played his first professional gig in the orchestra pit of a production of ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

''.

Career

At age 19,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

signed him to a two-year development deal as a solo artist. A formal album wasn't released, but the demo-recording process started his career as a songwriter. He played piano and guitar in

's band touring for the album ''

Figure 8 Figure 8 (figure of 8 in British English) may refer to: * 8 (number), in Arabic numerals Entertainment * ''Figure 8'' (album), a 2000 album by Elliott Smith * "Figure of Eight" (song), a 1989 song by Paul McCartney * '' Figure Eight EP'', a ...

'', playing live with Smith,

Sam Coomes Samuel J. Coomes (born April 23, 1964) is an American musician, and one-half of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with his ex-wife, drummer Janet Weiss. Coomes was also a member of the mid-1980s underground pop band The Donner Party and re ...

and Scott McPherson. Embry states that "witnessing mith'screative process was for me the equivalent to taking a graduate course in songwriting." Embry played piano with the band on the April 21, 2000's ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

''. Embry later became the leader of the

indie-rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...

group Amnion, helping write the group's songs. In February 2008, Amnion released their debut full-length album ''AmenNamO''. Embry has remained a frequent touring musician, working for musicians such as

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. He played piano on the debut album '' Up From Below'', and was then the touring piano player with

from 2009 to 2012. In August 2012 he booked a string of dates opening for

Mumford and Sons Mumford may refer to: *Amazing Mumford, a Muppet character on ''Sesame Street'' * ''Mumford'' (film), a 1999 American comedy-drama film * Mumford procedure, also called distal clavicle excision or distal clavicle resection, an orthopedic surgical pr ...

in support of his debut solo album, ''Tiny Prayers''. In 2014 Embry's song ''Raven's Song'' was featured in the movie ''

Wish I Was Here ''Wish I Was Here'' is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Zach Braff and co-written with his brother Adam Braff. The film stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Josh Gad, Pierce Gagnon, Ashley Greene, Kate Hudson, Joey King, Jim Parsons, ...

'' directed by

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

Producing

He has engineered, recorded, and produced a number of albums by other musicians and groups. In 2009, Embry produced and recorded the debut album of Long Beach-based band

for

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designat ...

at his home studio "Hunter's Hollow" in

Glassell Park, California Glassell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andrew Glassell (1827–1901), Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor * Susan Thornton Glassell (1835–1883), the wife of George Smith Patton and George H. Smith, and the sist ...

. He worked with producer

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

on his album '' Shine'', and also spent time with the Los Angeles production of '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch''.

''Tiny Prayers'' (2012)

Embry began writing a solo album while on the road with his friend,

Alexander Ebert Alexander Michael Tahquitz Ebert (born May 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the American bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. On January ...

of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. ''Tiny Prayers'' was released on September 18, 2012, on Community and

Vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

. The album includes ten songs written, performed, and co-produced by Embry, with

Woody Jackson Woodrow Wilson Jackson III (born June 10, 1970) is an American composer and session musician. He is best known for his work with Rockstar Games, composing scores for its video games ''Red Dead Redemption'', ''L.A. Noire'', ''Grand Theft Auto V' ...

also co-producing. The album was positively received. According to a review in ''Aquarium Drunkard,'' "Moon of the Daylit Sky", the album's opening track, "is perfectly sparse, but there's a bit of old-fashioned magic as some brushed drums, mandolin, and Embry's tinkling of the ivory fill out the song's skeletal frame. Embry has just a small warble of a voice, but it carries immense weight. He can be airy and vague on the keys but only in the way that a great jazz pianist can." ''

Performer Magazine ''Performer'' is an American music magazine aimed at independent musicians. It has been in publication since 1991 and is distributed nationally throughout the United States. The magazine focuses primarily on musicians who are unsigned and on sma ...

'' stated that with ''Tiny Prayers'' "Embry relies on a plethora of instruments to convey his thoughts and emotions. Despite the calm and minimalist approach to the album, he displays...a seasoned understanding of how to blend them all together into something captivating."

Personal life

Aaron Embry is married; he and his wife Nikki have one child.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Production credits

*1998: ''No One Is Really Beautiful'' by Jude (Maverick) – instrumentals *2000: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" off ''Christmas Songs'' (Nettwerk America) – producer *2003: '' Strays'' by

(

) – co-writing, some keyboards,

kalimba Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and pl ...

*2003: "The Richies" by

– co-wrote lyrics, song *2006: "Superhero" off '' Up from the Catacombs – The Best of Jane's Addiction'' (

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

) – writing *2009: ''Avi Buffalo'' by

(

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

) – produced and recorded *2009: "What's in It For / Jessica" by

(Sub Pop) – produced *2010: "Remember Last Time" off '' Western Skies'' (

Uncut Magazine ''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006 ...

) – produced, instrumentals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Embry, Aaron 1975 births Living people People from Bellflower, California Record producers from California American rock songwriters American male songwriters Musicians from California Songwriters from California