Aaron Lewis to bring his outlaw country to Des Moines

Staind frontman and founder Aaron Lewis, who  has been revealing the country boy inside him in recent years, will bring his version of outlaw country to the Hoyt Sherman Place stage on Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Lewis is long past defending his country music pedigree. Lewis would prefer the music speak for itself and, with the release of “Sinner,” Lewis’ Dot Records follow-up to his groundbreaking full-length solo debut “The Road” in 2012, any would-be detractors will be pretty much out of ammo.

Lewis, however, is not. “Sinner” blasts through today’s country music doldrums like a shot of 100-proof whiskey, with the singer making zero compromises with either himself or the restrictions of a format that seems to have abandoned its rougher tendencies in favor of pop and ‘70s rock inclinations largely lacking in grit.

“I’d like to think that ‘Sinner’ is a newer take on classic, traditional outlaw country; Waylon and Merle and Willie, and Hank Jr. and Johnny Cash and all that stuff,” said Lewis. “That was the music I heard as a kid, and that’s the country music that permeated my soul and stuck with me my whole life. This is an album of acknowledgement, admittance, moments of self-awareness. It has been a pretty trying time in my life over the past few years, and these songs are what have come of it. At the risk of sounding cliché, my music has always been therapeutic for me.”

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 20 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased in person at the Hoyt Sherman Place Box Office, charged by phone at 800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.