Spartan Aslan Freeman ’11 worked his way through small stages across the North Carolina music scene before he landed in major arenas as rising star Lainey Wilson’s bandleader and lead guitarist.
He credits his rise to “stubbornness meeting luck” and the broad music skills he built as an honors student in UNCG’s School of Music.
After graduating in 2011, he moved from band to band and, eventually, Nashville. There he reconnected with Lainey Wilson, whom he had met previously at City Limits Saloon in Raleigh. He began producing for her, and after just a few months, they were recording new music in a studio space that Freeman rented.
“Meeting Lainey made me look at country music differently,” he explains. “The songwriting is just insane. I love the meaningful stories you can tell.”
Since then, the “pinch-yourself” moments have continued for Freeman. Earlier this year, he and Wilson returned to North Carolina, playing the Carolina Panthers’ stadium and opening for Chris Stapleton.
See the complete story – plus visuals from earlier years with Freeman’s UNCG bandmates.