Article Contributed by Organic Records
Published on October 27, 2025
“The very last thing I did before the COVID pandemic hit in 2020 was attend one of Darrell Scott’s ‘Songfood’ workshops,” recalls singer-songwriter Aaron Burdett. “Rhyme or Reason is a song I wrote over the course of a few days there with about a dozen other songwriters who were doing the same thing.”
Burdett’s new single for Organic Records is a contemplative follow-up to his whimsical hit “Honeybees.” The song was born in a time of uncertainty but has become a meditation on gratitude, growth, and resilience—fitting themes for the guitarist and frequent lead singer of the Steep Canyon Rangers.
“I’d been thinking about the concept on the drive from my home in North Carolina over to Nashville,” he shares. “When Darrell told us to bring a new song back to the group, this is what came up. I remember right where I was when the idea hit… And as I write this now, in September 2025, I’m proud to say I was on stage with Darrell last weekend singing with him at the Mountain Song Festival in Brevard. Funny how things turn out. That’s what the song is about—appreciating the ride and doing the best we can with what we have.”
Backed by the same ensemble that has appeared on his recent releases—producer/bassist Jon Weisberger, Carley Arrowood (fiddle), Kristin Scott Benson (banjo), Tristan Scroggins (mandolin), and harmony singers Travis Book (Infamous Stringdusters) and Wendy Hickman—Burdett delivers a heartfelt performance grounded in acoustic warmth and bluegrass rhythm.
Lyrics (excerpt):
If I could go back to my childhood home
All those years ago
I’m the little boy sitting on the woodbox
Playing records I don’t know
The only thing I’d have the heart to say
Is I love you, and you’re going to find your way
You might not find rhyme or reason
Time will fly, changing seasons
Take the good that you find
And pass it on
🎧 Listen to “Rhyme or Reason” HERE
Aaron Burdett’s lyrics are soul-touching, intelligent, witty, and poetic, while his music weaves together Americana, country, blues, bluegrass, and folk.
Named one of the Top 10 most important musicians of Western North Carolina by WNC Magazine—alongside Doc Watson, the Steep Canyon Rangers, and The Avett Brothers—Burdett is a celebrated songwriter and performer.
He won the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (MerleFest, Bluegrass category) for his song “Rockefeller,” and his album Dream Rich, Dirt Poor (2021) debuted at #8 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart, earning multiple Top 10 radio hits.
Burdett also took home the Grand Prize in the Folk category of the USA Songwriting Contest for “A Couple Broken Windows” (2018) and won Our State Magazine’s Carolina Songs Competition in 2012. His song “Magpie” placed third in the 2013 Chris Austin Contest.
Drawing on Appalachian folk traditions and national songwriting influences, Burdett’s music reflects small-town life in the Blue Ridge Mountains while speaking to the broader American working experience.
(Listen to “Rhyme or Reason” HERE)
