By Perry Bergson
Brandon Sun

You'll have to excuse Aaron Lines if he's looking for a hockey bag instead of his guitar case in the storage compartment of the bus.

After all, old habits die hard.

The young singer, who had a brief stint with the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Fort McMurray Oil Barons, compares the camaraderie on the tour bus to that found when he was playing hockey.

"I played hockey all my life and we always travelled on buses," the 23-year-old singer says. "I missed that. I loved having all the guys on the bus because you really get to know people like that. Now it's just like that again."

Lines opened for Paul Brandt last night at Brandon's Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, the Fort McMurray man's first time in Manitoba. He moved down to Nashville permanently a few months ago after heading down to Music City virtually every month to write. At first he stayed in a basement suite with his producer Chris Farren, but he has since moved in with another songwriter.

Lines says Farren, who has penned four #1 country songs for other artists, has been a godsend.

"He's been my producer/surrogate father," he says. "I've learned a lot from him. He's one of the most talented guys I've ever met."

Lines co-wrote the title track and first single from his new CD Love Changes Everything with Farren, who also introduced him to Brandt. Lines is selling the album on his website (aaronlines.com) and at shows.

For now, that will have to do.

Lines thought at one point that he had signed an American record deal but it fell apart. Now he's being quite cautious.

"I'm in no rush," Lines says. "I know a lot of artists down there, and a lot of them are really unhappy with their record deals. You have to sign a lot of your career over so you have to be happy with where you're at. I'm just kind of checking things out. Hopefully I'll find some place that likes me as much as I like them."

Lines has a publishing deal with an American company in which they finance his songwriting work. The firm would make its money back if Lines signs a record deal.

Lines estimates he penned 150 songs last year with the help of co-writers. That's a far cry from the 10 a year he figures that he finished by himself in Alberta.

"Getting in with these other people, you get different viewpoints, and where you'd get stuck working by yourself, your co-writer will throw out a line," he says. "Plus I've obviously learned a lot."

Lines' willingness to learn, along with his talent for writing and singing, has made him a hot commodity in Nashville.

He quickly impressed Brandt.

"He's a really talented young guy," Brandt says. "I think the fans are really going to get into his music. He's just been one of those guys who's been in the right place at the right time. I think the way that he's been handling himself down here (in Nashville) and saying a lot about how he's going to do.

"He's literally turning record labels down. He's trying to find out what the best place for him to be is. He's going to be that much in demand. To have him as part of this tour is only going to make it that much better."

Brandt asked Lines to join him a couple of months ago. The two had been writing together and Brandt mentioned he was going to tour small Canadian cities. A couple of days later he asked Lines to come along.

The invitation launched his career into high gear. He and Farren re-recorded Love Changes Everything and did eight other songs to complete a disc. They then rushed it to be printed in time for the tour.

He received it the day before they left.

His gorgeous website, which has only been up a few weeks, also helps. It was designed by a friend from Fort McMurray for free, a wonderful break for a young artist.

The single is now starting to get some airplay and the opening spot on the Brandt tour will obviously do wonders for his visibility.

Lines is enjoying every moment of it. "I'm walking around the tour bus with a video camera," Lines says. "For everyone else here it's old hat, but I always try to live by the rule that this might never happen again so make the best of it."