Lawrence, KS, USA, July 31st, 2022 karlatullaron.com
Pianist-Composer KARLA TULL ARON Channels Coming of Age Memories Through Her Piano on Her Debut Album, This Is Where We Come From, coming on September 20th, 2022.
“For many of us, “home” will always be where you grew up, it doesn’t matter how far away from it you go.”
Inspired by her years growing up in central Arkansas, This Is Where We Come From is the debut album of solo piano pieces from Lawrence, KS based pianist and visual artist Karla Tull Aron. These “musical paintings”, as Aron refers to them, are designed to evoke the images and feelings that stick with us from our formative years.
“All those early experiences bind you to your people and places, and you carry it with you even after you leave home,” Aron says.
While Aron’s love for the piano led her to degrees in piano performance at the University of Central Arkansas and University of Kansas (focusing on classical works by Ravel, Chopin and Schumann) there is nothing specifically classical about her newest compositions.
In fact there is a more free flowing style to Aron’s work on This Is Where We Come From. Each song is built around a meditation on a theme, both musically and emotionally.
"Each of the piano pieces was conceived on the spot and recorded in one take,” Aron says.
Aron talks about “catching” each piece on the album, “I have an inner knowing of when there’s a feeling or melody in me that is ready to be played. It’s almost a physical sensation. I wait and listen for that inner sensation to well up, and then I hit record and start playing.”
The album’s compositions find Aron exploring more modern, and specifically American tonalities. Her wide range of influences are found in a diverse but accessible sound, from hinting at folk melodies and church hymns to the bold modern sounds of composers such as Aaron Copland.
However, it is the lifelong memories of growing up in her beloved Arkansas that remain both the inspiration and the ultimate goal for Aron.
“I want to bring the listeners into my dreamscape. I want them to enjoy the sound, the mood, the emotion, and I want to evoke those emotions in them. I want them to feel through the music and be ultimately carried into their own dreamscape of memories.”
This Is Where We Come From, will be released April 2023.
Press release authored by: Justin Leighton Long.