Staind frontman Aaron Lewis gets back to his roots with January 31st solo acoustic show at the Carolina Theatre

Durham, N.C. - Aaron Lewis, the co-founder of the post-grunge band Staind, never strayed very far from his country roots. It's something that he grew up with, and something that he comes back to with a solo acoustic performance at the Carolina Theatre on Tuesday, January 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets $59, $49 and $39 and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 2 at the Carolina Theatre box office at 919-560-3030, carolinathetare.org, through Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787 or ticketmaster.com.

At the heart of Staind's loud, angst-laden music are the confessional lyrics and introspective personality of frontman Aaron Lewis. While other post-grunge bands were successful in mining the dark caverns once explored by Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, Lewis allowed his sensitivity to pour freely from his words and often pensive vocals, enabling Staind to strike a balance between heavy metal bombast and thoughtful, melodic rock. Born in Springfield, Vermont, Lewis listened to folk music as a child. The son of divorced parents, Lewis chronicled the emotional turmoil in his childhood with Staind, namely on tracks like "Epiphany" and "For You," from Break the Cycle. Like the late Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, Lewis casts an unpretentious, no-frills image, exhibiting a brooding disposition and emotional vulnerability that troubled youths can relate to. Lewis recorded his first album with Staind, Tormented, in 1996. Staind remained on the fringes of mainstream acceptance until "Outside," a live collaboration between Lewis and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst during the 1999 Family Values Tour, blew up on alternative and mainstream rock stations a year later. With only his acoustic guitar as his musical backing, Lewis delivered a raw, anguished performance of a song that Staind would later record in the studio for Break the Cycle. The track carved the path for Staind's subsequent commercial breakthrough. Staind sustained a decade of popularity before Lewis broke free with a solo career in 2011, refashioning himself as a conservative country singer on his 2011 EP,

Ultimately, Lewis is giving listeners something that he always does. There's a tangible honesty to each of these five songs, and he opens up with every guitar chord and lyric. Lewis concludes, "I've always stayed true to how I feel in my songs. I love this country, and I feel like I've gotten to live the American dream. I'm genuinely blessed to have this opportunity, and I'm glad to celebrate that classic country spirit with this new music."

Aaron Lewis comes to the Carolina Theatre on Tuesday, January 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets $59, $49 and  $39 and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 2 at the Carolina Theatre box office at 919-560-3030, carolinathetare.org, through Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787 or ticketmaster.com.