AARON KEYLOCK LAYS HIS CRADLE ROCK CALLING CARD ON 'CUT AGAINST THE GRAIN'
Aaron Keylock: 'Cut Against The Grain'
Released: 20th January 2017 (Provogue/Mascot Label Group)
6th January 2017


Words And Video: Mark Taylor





Oxford born Aaron Keylock first picked up the guitar when he was just eight years old but he came to the attention of many two years ago when he hit sixteen and exchanged his school uniform for cool rock'n'roll attire and performed hot scorching hard rocking blues to audiences at both Bloodstock and Download festivals as well as supporting calibre acts such as The Answer, The Cadillac Three, Wilko Johnson, Joanne Shaw-Taylor and Dan Patlansky.

Coming of age, Keylock was packed off to Los Angeles with his fellow young bandmates, Jordon Maycock on bass and drummer Sonny Miller Greaves, to meet up with producer Fabrizio Grossi, who has worked with such luminaries as Alice Cooper, Slash, Dave Navarro, Zack Wilde and even Ice-T and George Clinton, to produce this anticipated debut album, 'Cut Against The Grain'.

It's a cohesive effort too, showcasing Keylock's maturity yet still holding an innocent charm one would expect from a teenager.

Many will be familiar with 'Medicine Man', which was released as a single last year, and album opener 'All The Right Moves' follows in a similar vein, kicking you in the shins and leaving a nice little bruise.



'Down' and the more upbeat 'Against The Grain' leave you covered in the mud from the Delta Swamp while slow blues burner 'Just One Question' is reminiscent of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac where Keylock lets the guitar express his feelings.

Lyrically he bares his soul on 'Falling Again' and the searching 'Try' while 'Spin The Bottle' has a good time Georgia Satellites groove to it.

There any many influences to be found on this album but none more so than Rory Gallagher with its hard driving blues and even the album title tips its hat to the Irishman.

'Cut Against The Grain' shows plenty of future promise but when Keylock grows older and gets his heart ripped out by an unscrupulous lady and then drowns his sorrows in an empty bottle of whiskey, will we see what he's really made of? But until then a promising star has started to shine.





MetalTalk's Mark Taylor met up with Aaron Keylock on his recent UK tour where the young, confident guitarist spoke about the recording of 'Cut Against The Grain', his expectations plus a whole lot more.