Aidan VanSuetendael is a songwriter and banjo player based in Nashville, Tennessee. Born in Stuart, Florida into a family of artists, she grew up surrounded by music: her mother an Irish step dancer and singer, her father a guitarist, two of her siblings bassists. She began to learn banjo with the help of Cuban/Floridian banjoist Gonzalo Martinez. Through Martinez, she found a deep appreciation of traditional bluegrass, and began attending bluegrass festivals and local camps like Suwannee Banjo Camp in Florida. VanSuetendael studied banjo, guitar, and dobro with musicians Andy Carlson, Gary Puckett, and Adam Schlenker, and more at Dennison University where graduated with a major in Poetry (studying with writers David Baker, Ann Townsend, Fred Porcheddu, and Michael Croley), along with minors in Bluegrass and Biochemistry, all of which guide her songwriting.
In 2020, VanSuetendael joined the internationally-touring band Bill and the Belles on banjo, banjo uke, and vocals. The quartet (Kalia Yeagle, Kris Truelsen, and Andrew Small) hosted the PBS TV show “Farm and Fun Time” and toured heavily across the USA, Canada, UK, and Ireland. In 2024, VanSuetendael began working on her first solo record of all-original songs, finishing recording in spring of 2025. The album is set to be released in late summer of 2025.
https://www.aidanvansuetendael.com