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Today begins a brand-new chapter of The Aaron Clift Experiment.  Tim Smith has decided to leave the band and pursue a new musical direction, and Christopher Aboujaoude has decided to follow his music career outside of Austin.  We wish Tim and Christopher the best of luck with their musical pursuits and thank them for excellent drum and bass work that they’ve done with the band over the last few years.

Managing the change of two band members, let alone the entire rhythm section, isn’t easy, but we’re excited to announce that we found a bassist and a drummer who more than fill the big shoes left by Tim and Christopher.  Please welcome Clif Warren (bass) and Chase Ozment (drums):

Hailing from the deserts of New Mexico, Clif Warren has been playing bass since 1986 in a myriad of styles – from rock, metal, funk, gospel, and even Broadway show tunes.  But above all, Clif has had an abiding love for prog rock, most recently performing bass in the Austin-based progressive rock band, Proud Peasant.  His primary influences include Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Chris Squire, and Steve Harris.

A senior jazz performance major at the University of Texas at Austin, Chase Ozment has been playing music since age 10, percussion since age 12, and drum set and jazz since age 13.  He grew up in Temple, Texas and travelled to various State and National level competitions with the Temple High School Highlighters jazz band (including the UT jazz festival).  Today, in addition to performing with The Aaron Clift Experiment, Chase plays drums with Big Wy’s Brass Band, Clusterfunk, and Cicadus.

Clif and Chase bring maturity, excellent chops, and lots of excitement to The Aaron Clift Experiment’s sound.  We can’t wait for you to meet them as they make their official debut with the band at our April 16 show at Come and Take it Live.  When you come out there, please be sure to welcome them to the ACE family!

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Thank you to everyone who came to our 01/16/19 show at Mohawk. Former ACE bassist, Devin North, joined as special guest on bass for this show while Christopher was out of town. Thank you to Thamica Photography for the awesome photos. Click on the photo collage below to see more of our photos from the show:

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Happy 2019, ACE fans!  2018 was a big year for The Aaron Clift Experiment, so I thought that I’d look back at some of the highlights:

On May 4, we released our third album, “If All Goes Wrong.”  We were overwhelmed by the positive feedback that we got from you and critics alike.  Several publications, such as  Dutch Progressive Rock Page, Exposé, and Power of Prog even named the album as one of the best albums of 2018.  I’m very proud of how far the band has come with our songwriting and performances and am very grateful for the great show of support.

To celebrate the release of “If All Goes Wrong,” we thew a big album release party in April at One 2 One Bar. Joining us on stage for this special occasion were many of the guest musicians who performed on the album: Dave North, Van Wilks, Arielle, and Kevin Chin all did amazing guitar work at the show.

 

Speaking of guitar, 2018 also brought big changes to the band: after months without a permanent guitarist, ACE finally found our new axe man in Mathew Aboujaoude.  Additionally, in the summer, Devin North departed the band, leaving some big shoes to fill in the bass department.  Luckily, we found an excellent replacement in Mathew brother, Christopher Aboujaoude.  This powerhouse team of brothers brought tons of experience and talent to the band but most importantly passion for performing original progressive rock.

We rounded out the year in October by performing at Progtoberfest in Chicago, one of the largest progressive rock festivals in North America.  It was truly an honor to perform alongside legends such as Screaming Headless Torsos and Soft Machine.  More importantly, we met some incredible people at the festival, from other amazing prog bands all over the world to fans like you.

So, what lies ahead for The Aaron Clift Experiment?  We’ve got several new shows in the works, starting with our January 16 show at Mohawk.  Beyond that, we hope to debut a few new songs this year.

Thank you all for making 2018 a great year for the band, and here’s to a great 2019!

–Aaron