Aidan VanSuetendael is a Nashville-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose upcoming debut solo album, slated for release in Fall of 2025, marks a bold departure from her roots in traditional music. Produced by Maya de Vitry of The Stray Birds and recorded at The Tractor Shed with a stellar lineup of collaborators, the album is an atmospheric and introspective collection that blends emotive storytelling with experimental textures.

Drawn from deeply personal explorations of relationships, travel, heartbreak, and spirituality, the songs are imbued with vivid imagery and poetic symbolism—a reflection of VanSuetendael’s lifelong love and study of poetry, as well as her grounding in traditional melodies. Setting aside banjo for this project, her intricate understanding of melody and narrative shines through in her nuanced guitar playing and expressive vocals. 

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, one sibling a multidisciplinary artist (costume design, drawing, and writing), and her grandfather an animator and cartoonist.  Captivated by the early 2000s and 2010s indie/folk/pop movement, VanSuetendael was enamored with the early works of artists like The Mountain Goats, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie, Gregory Alan Isokov, and Iron & Wine. 

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 attended Denison University in Columbus, Ohio, where she studied banjo, guitar, and dobro with musicians Andy Carlson, Gary Puckett, and Adam Schlenker, and more. She graduated with a major in Poetry (studying with writers David Baker, Ann Townsend, Fred Porcheddu, and Michael Croley), along with earning minors in Bluegrass and Biochemistry. In 2019, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, meeting a wonderful community of traditional musicians and songwriters. She partnered with Oregon-based songwriter and violinist Christiana Zollner to form the short-lived but delightful duo Ladyfolk. 

In 2020, VanSuetendael joined the internationally-touring band Bill and the Belles. The quartet (including Kalia Yeagle, Kris Truelsen, and Andrew Small) hosted the PBS TV show “Farm and Fun Time,” touring heavily across the USA, Canada, UK, and Ireland. With the band’s decision to end touring in 2023, VanSuetendael embraced a new chapter—immersed in songwriting and banjo sessions in Nashville while fixing up an old house and tending her garden and flock of ducks and chickens.