“We’re trying to be adventurous. I don’t want to write songs that are just excuses for me to play mindless solos”: Meet Tristan Auman, the wildly inventive guitarist who went from gospel to gonzo shred with Sometime In February

Tristan Auman of Sometimes In February.

Growing up in Raleigh, South Carolina, Tristan Auman got his first chance to play guitar in public during church services. 

“We did a mix of contemporary Christian music and old-time gospel hymns,” he says. “Because we had choirs and vocalists, I didn’t get much of a chance to stretch out, but occasionally I’d get music directors who’d toss me a bone – ‘Here’s a section, kid. I trust you. Go crazy!’ It was great. I got over any kind of stage fright early.”