From Zoe Jane to Travelin' Soldier — Aaron Lewis

Aaron Lewis wrote a song for his first daughter when she was a baby. Thirteen years later, she sang with him on one of his records. A year after that, she sang it beside him in front of a crowd in the Massachusetts valley where Staind started.

A song for a baby girl

Staind had just come off the road after Break the Cycle when they made their fourth album. The band gave Lewis time at home with his wife so they could have their first child and get used to being parents. Then they went to Los Angeles and wrote and recorded with producer Josh Abraham.

That album was 14 Shades of Grey. It came out on May 20, 2003, and went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Lewis wrote all of its lyrics. He said at the time that the band was getting older, and that he was "married now with a kid." The record is quieter and more personal than the ones before it.

The sixth song is Zoe Jane. It's named for his firstborn daughter and written to honour her. It came out as the album's fourth single in April 2004. Fans got an early look at her, too. Some shots of Zoe Jane turn up in the music video for So Far Away, the album's second single.

From Staind to country

By then Lewis had moved from Staind's hard rock to a solo career in country music. His solo songs are country, not metal. His 2016 album Sinner came out on Dot Records on September 16 that year. It has 11 songs. The title track is a duet with Willie Nelson.

The last song on Sinner is Travelin' Soldier. Bruce Robison wrote it and first recorded it in the 1990s, and the Dixie Chicks made it a hit as a single in 2002. It tells the story of a young woman who waits for a soldier to come home from war.

On Lewis's version, the other voice belongs to Zoe. She was 13 when she recorded it. It was her first time singing in a studio, in front of people who made her nervous. Lewis said she sang it three times and got it right every time.

"That little girl nailed it three times," he told Taste of Country Nights. "I'm a very proud dad." She was keeping it quiet at school, he said.

On stage together

The next summer, they sang it live. On Friday night, August 4, 2017, MassLive reported, Lewis played his yearly Aaron Lewis and Friends show at the Pines Theater in Look Park, Northampton, Massachusetts. The day raised money for It Takes a Community, a charity that helps rural towns in New England.

Lewis opened with a set of his country songs. Then he brought Zoe out. "I don't know who's more nervous, her or her dad," he told the crowd. Zoe took the lead on Travelin' Soldier while he sang harmony next to her. Donnie Moorhouse reviewed the show for The Republican. He called it her "breakout singing debut" and wrote that the crowd rose to its feet.

The night ended with Lewis, guitarist Mike Mushok and bassist Johnny April back together as Staind for three acoustic songs.

Listen

First is the music video for Zoe Jane, the song Lewis wrote for his daughter in 2003. This copy was posted by a fan, not by the band, so it is not an official upload. Next is the official video for So Far Away, which includes some shots of her. Then comes Travelin' Soldier from Sinner, with Zoe singing alongside her dad. After that is the two of them singing it live at Look Park in 2017. A fan filmed it from the front row and posted it, so it is not an official video. Last is That Ain't Country, the first single from Sinner.

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