Aaron Spade was born on October 28, 1966 in Sioux City, Iowa, to an artistic and musical family. His childhood was filled with literature, poetry, art and music and Aaron’s love and talent for the arts was greatly shaped and enriched by this. His early childhood was somewhat nomadic and influenced him, as he moved with his family to Woodstock, NY, Provincetown, Chatham, and other Cape Cod towns before settling in Brewster, MA, where he attended Nauset Middle and High School.

A smart and creative child, his sister, Maggie, fondly remembers Aaron recording episodes of their show, The Pie and Jim Slim Show, a variety musical show with songs, humor and interviews with their pets when they were 6 and 8 years old.

He was a curious and talkative child and would often engage in long conversations with adults. On a long bus ride from the Midwest to the East Coast, his mother, Carol, recalls him sitting next to a woman who told her, “I just learned all about septic pollution from your young son”.

He loved animals and the environment, working as a canvasser for MassPIRG as early as age 15, protesting the building of the Pilgrim II nuclear power plant. He had a breadth of knowledge about animals and especially birds, often drawing beautiful pictures of birds, knowing great details of many species. He was inspired by modern artists, especially Andy Warhol and writers such as Kurt Vonnegut

Aaron was smart, and achieved academically on his own terms, and was instrumental in successfully advocating for Nauset High School’s original Alternative Learning Group (ALG), a new style of learning with classes that helped numerous students for many years to follow – its current curriculum now falls under the iteration of School Within a School (SWS).

Aaron’s love and talent for art and music evolved in high school and many years after with his bands, including Elder Forum and The Hitchhikers and, later in San Francisco, The Ringos (with his longtime friend, Tommy Carns and the late Damon Carmen). After high school, he joined The Incredible Casuals and played and wrote songs for them for many years (with Chandler Travis, Johnny Spampinato and Rikki Bates). He played with other bands including The Spampinato Brothers, and also recorded solo albums and songs, continuing to record until his death.

He enjoyed traveling, including on the road with his bands and especially loved the West Coast of California. He lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California for many years. While in Los Angeles, Aaron continued to advocate for the public in his work at CalPIRG. Still every summer found him making the cross country trek back to Cape Cod to play Sundays with The Incredible Casuals at The Wellfleet Beachcomber.

He was always a collector, loving rare toys, comic books and Mad Magazines, vintage bowling shirts, humorous t-shirts and his favorite band t-shirts.

Aaron collected over 20 guitars, and his wish was to donate them to young, budding musicians who otherwise could not afford them (as was the case with his family, growing up on the Cape). His family will honor this wish.

He leaves behind a large band community and great number of friends he gained from his childhood and those he gathered throughout his travels.

He leaves behind his great loves - his ex-wives, Judy Ireland and Alison Spade and his late, beloved dog, Evie Spade.

Aaron is survived by his mother, Carol Spade, his sister, Maggie Spade-Aguilar, and nephew, Luca Aguilar.

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