About
Aaron Railey is a musician, composer, educator, and audio engineer based out of Columbia, South Carolina. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education with an emphasis in percussion performance from the University of South Carolina. Aaron currently serves in a role as a production manager and lead audio engineer for Mt. Horeb Church in Lexington, SC. Prior to
this position, Aaron served as a Production Manager for Lexington County School District One’s Performing Arts Center and also served as the Associate Director of Bands at River Bluff High
School in Lexington, SC, where he directed the marching and concert bands, led the Audio Engineering program, and founded the county’s first ever world music ensemble. Aaron is
currently the Artist in Residence and Director of Steel Drum Ensembles at Logan Elementary School in Columbia, SC, where he teaches a before-school musical outreach program to third
through fifth graders. He and his wife, Caroline, reside with their two sons, Christian and Cameron, in Lexington, SC.
In his most recent position as the Production Manager and Lead Audio Engineer at Mt. Horeb Church, Aaron focuses on further developing his skill sets in production by mixing audio for live
streaming and weekly in-person services and for various events on campus. Aaron prides himself in being knowledgeable about leading industry standard technology, such as the Digico Quantum
338 and SD9, Waves Soundgrid Server, D&B Audiotechnik loudspeakers, and common microphone and wireless microphone platforms. This knowledge base and wide range of skill sets have opened up many opportunities for Aaron as a production manager and contract audio engineer. He has recently collaborated with artists such as Billy Ocean, Patti Labelle, Boyz II
Men, Chris Tomlin, CAIN, Anne Wilson, Rend Collective, Katy Nichole, and many more! Aaron is honored to serve God’s people through production and is looking forward to the doors that
may open next for him along this career path.
As a performing musician, Aaron has been a featured concert percussion soloist on performance tours throughout China and has performed as a featured artist at the Percussive Arts Society
International Convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a marching percussion artist, he achieved multiple international finalist and championship-winning performances with the DCI
and WGI organizations Carolina Crown, Palmetto Percussion, and Spirit of Atlanta. Aaron is also a steel pan solo artist, performing around the state of South Carolina for various high-end events
and ceremonies.
Aaron has an undeniable passion for instilling positive life skills through music education. Along with his present teaching positions, he is an active clinician across the country and a devoted
private lesson instructor. Ensembles under his direction have consistently placed in the top positions at state championships, been named BOA regional finalists and WGI national finalists,
and have been featured performance ensembles at various national education conventions.
Composing and arranging are also integral parts of Aaron’s day-to-day musical work. It brings him no greater joy than to see students and adults around the world bringing his musical creations to life! He is currently the resident percussion and audio designer for the music-arranging company Marching BandWorks, under the direction of CEO Joshua V. Hinkel. His marching arts designs have been heard in state marching band championships, college football stadiums, and in WGI and BOA regional and national championships. Through his partnership with C-Alan Publications, Aaron has composed many new works for percussion ensemble andsteel band, some of which have been added to the Texas UIL featured list! He also has popular music arrangements published through Hal Leonard’s Composer Press on Sheet Music Plus.
In 2022, Aaron also released his first ever original instrumental album, "Redeemed." Using industry-standard software and ground-breaking instrumental library technology, this album was
created and distributed all digitally. Aaron did all the composing, orchestrating, mixing, and mastering on this album, and he truly takes pride in it being his most ambitious work yet. Please
feel free to enjoy this album wherever you stream music!
Aaron is honored to be endorsed by the best percussion companies in the world, Remo Inc., The Vic Firth Company, and The Zildjian Company. Aaron is also on the approved artist roster for the
South Carolina Arts Commission.
