Faith in music. East Canton pastor Aaron Hymes is award-nominated Christian country artist

PARIS TWP. − Aaron Hymes walked up the steps of his farm house immersed in music.

The sounds of banjo, bass, guitar, drums and fiddle could be heard melodiously. Moving through a room, he gestured toward guitars hanging on the wall, each one with a story tied to his musical journey that recently culminated with a Nashville-based recording contract.

Taking the last flight of stairs, Hymes followed the roar of his band, its Christian country sounds warm, bold and affirming.

The 40-year-old Stark County resident strapped an acoustic guitar around his neck and anchored himself behind a microphone in an attic doubling as a rehearsal space and recording studio.

Sounding rich, earnest and full of conviction, Hymes led the six-member group through a set of songs, including "III," inspired by the three crosses often seen along highways. The song has registered more than 20,000 views for its YouTube video, which debuted earlier this year.

"III" also recently made the top 15 of The Rick Spins Show on ISAA (International Singer-Songwriters Association) radio.

"Music is the only place I get to be free," Hymes said. "And there's no holding back on my emotions. There's no holding back on how I need to feel − it's just me being me, and people get to see the little boy from Marlboro be himself."

'I just never thought I would be a country singer.'

Forming a full band and signing a deal with the Nashville-based Positive Country Records is the latest chapter in Hymes' music story.

Musical interests trace to his childhood and when he was a drummer in alternative rock bands. Finding his own voice and fronting a band happened only in the last few years.

Hymes also was influenced musically by his late stepfather Sherman Robertson, an accomplished blues guitarist and singer. One of Robertson's guitars adorns a wall in Hymes' home, along with photos of the respected musician.

But Hymes clearly has found his own groove, nominated for best country song and video of the year in the indie Rampage Music Awards for "Be Alright."

The Aaron Hymes Band was among the featured performers this weekend at a convention of the American Christian Country Music Association, where Hymes was also up for awards.

"It really blows my mind because I just never thought I would be a country singer," he said.

Recording music with a Grammy winner

Hymes has been shuttling back and forth to Nashville to work on music.

Members of the Aaron Hymes Band are banjo player Ken Short of Paris Township; guitarist Dave Krajcik of the Minerva area; fiddler Larry Dickman of Chesterland; drummer Tim "Patch" Issac of Massillon; and bassist Scott Strunk of East Canton.

Grammy winner Mark Fain, who toured as a longtime bassist for Ricky Scaggs, is now producing music for Hymes. Fain also has worked with big names in the business, including Tom Petty, Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Bruce Hornsby, John Oates and Martina McBride.

Fain met Hymes through the taping of a television show in Nashville.

"I thought he had a really great voice, and the songs were really good, and he had an interesting story," Fain said. "I just thought it would be really cool to produce a few things (for) him and see what happens. There is so much music out there these days, but Aaron seemed special. He seemed real to me.

Short said Hymes gives the band artistic freedom as instrumentalists.

"Whatever we come up with to accompany his music he's happy with," he said. "He says, 'I want you to play what you feel and mean what you play.'"

A recent rehearsal heard the band unveiling a couple of new tracks − an uptempo, toe-tapping number about road trips to Nashville. And an emotive ballad about the power of faith that was inspired by Hymes' friendship with a Stark County man.

A country singing Stark County pastor

Hymes grew up attending churches in Marlboro and Hartville.

His grandfather, Eugene D. White, was pastor of the Apostolic Gospel Church in Akron. Hymes did missionary work as a teenager in Haiti with his grandmother, Marjorie White.

"A lot of the inspiration that I have as a singer-songwriter comes to me reaching back to my roots with my grandparents and the adventures in their life," he said.

Music also is an outlet for Hymes' faith in God, including writing and singing worship-oriented music under the name Entertaining Angels and releasing the song "Presence" last year.

He also serves as associate pastor and youth pastor at Indian Run Christian Church in the East Canton area.

"I'm a pastor, but I have this calling in music, too," Hymes said. "So I'm kind of incorporating both worlds into one, and I'm really not trying to push the fact of Christian country music down people. I'm just trying to have the medium of having a positive message for the community period."

"We really as a band want people to know, 'Yeah, it's good to go to church, it's good to fellowship with people, but you don't have to go to church for God to meet you,'" he said.

Faith in God is woven into his music. So is rural and small town imagery from Stark County, including the song, "Minerva."

Hymes lives on a 100-acre Paris Township farm, east of Louisville, with his wife, Brianna, and their children. A barn is used for outdoor rehearsals in warm weather. The backyard offers an unimpeded and grand view of sunsets. When the sky is clear enough, the McKinley Monument is visible on the distant horizon.

Videos also have been filmed in Stark County, including for the songs, "Georgetown" and "Minerva."

"The beauty of the countryside, that's where my heart is," he said.

"I just want people to remember me as that boy from Marlboro who was happy," Hymes said. "A big part of the music that comes out of me is the people of Marlboro. There's just something special about people in Marlboro. They're just loving, they're just family-oriented."

Fain said Hymes is musically authentic.

"Aaron has that thing that draws you in," he said. "When he sings those songs, you just know he’s lived every word. That’s not an easy thing to do. I want to find a sound to complement his stories. It all has to go together. I think that’s what we remember about great songs. The words, a person's voice, how an instrument sounded."

Forging a musical and spiritual connection

Short, the 49-year-old banjo player, met Hymes at an Akron recording studio.

"My personal belief is I did not pick Aaron and Aaron did not pick me," Short said. "God put us together exactly at the right time.

"Musically, he and I connect," he added. "But spiritually, we connect even more because of our walk with Christ."

'I think he can do whatever he wants.'

Hymes and the band are excited to see where their music takes them.

"The goal and plan this year is really to get our name out around the world for booking purposes to play bigger shows and travel," Hymes said.

Studio sessions with Fain will yield new songs to be released as singles.

Fain said Hymes' potential is unlimited.

"I think he can do whatever he wants," said the veteran musician. "I don’t look at him as a country or gospel or whatever artist. It’s just great songs and Aaron singing them. I always tell folks, 'Our project may or may not be a huge hit, but it’s a big step in the right direction."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com. On X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at ed_balint.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Pastor Aaron Hymes taps Mark Fain to work on Christian country music