Aaron Sprinkle - Real Life (2017)

Over the course of his career, Seattle's Aaron Sprinkle has led several respected alt-rock bands, forged a successful solo career, and produced dozens of albums for a variety of different artists from Copeland to Relient K. While still in high school during the early '90s, he formed the pioneering Christian indie rock outfit Poor Old Lu with his brother Jesse Sprinkle, releasing several albums and touring until their breakup in 1996. Following a pair of albums with post-grunge band Rose Blossom Punch in the late '90s, Sprinkle launched his solo career with 1999's more singer/songwriter-oriented Moontraveler, flashing his ample production and multi-instrumental chops over the course of subsequent solo releases like The Kindest Days (2000), Bareface (2001), and the Lackluster compilation (2004). In 2001, he was hired as a producer by revered Christian indie rock label Tooth & Nail, where he concurrently launched his production career. Putting his solo career on hold, Sprinkle formed a new indie rock project called Fair in 2005, and the quartet released its Tooth & Nail debut, The Best Worst-Case Scenario, the following year. The remainder of the decade was largely devoted to production work, helming records by Thousand Foot Krutch, Demon Hunter, and Anberlin, among others. Fair returned for 2010's Disappearing World, and Sprinkle resumed his solo career with 2013's Water & Guns. His increasingly busy production schedule continued to occupy the bulk of his time until the 2017 release of his sixth solo album, Real Life. ~ Timothy Monger.