Singer-songwriter Aaron Beaumont lives in Los Angeles these days, but his cell phone still has a Chicago area code. Asked about that, he tried to explain his arrival in L.A. a couple of years ago:

"I grew up a little west of Chicago, and I guess I never switched my phone number around. I went to school in Michigan, and lived in Nashville for a while. ... I was in Spain for a year, then England for a year, trying to figure out what to do. I ended up with economics."

After earning bachelor's degrees in economics, literature and Spanish, Beaumont (who's playing Lestat's Thursday night) ended up moving to Nashville and recording an album that was picked up last year by the small Milan label. On "Nothing's Forever, Not Even Goodbye," Beaumont's piano playing and singing have an old-fashioned patina to them reminiscent of pre-World War II music halls.

So how did a guy still in his 20s end up playing music that sounds like something Leon Redbone would tackle?

"I guess I grew up listening to the old Cole Porter stuff, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick and Tony Bennett. I was always interested in ragtime ---- Scott Joplin was always my favorite to play before I got into the classical stuff.

"Combine that with the fact that I was used to playing in a suit and tie or tux for my recitals, and it just made more sense in terms of styles. A lot of piano-based bands don't really feature the piano. If you're really going to focus on the instrumentation, on playing the piano the way it can be played, then that's really the way to go."

Growing up in the Midwest, Beaumont's first piano lessons were from his mom ---- who gave lessons for a living, but was hesitant to give them to her 8-year-old son.

"I think she taught me for maybe six months, as I was begging her to start piano lessons because my sister was taking them. ... I was a little headstrong, so she thought it would be one more reason for me to rebel."

But even after his mom found him another teacher, Beaumont stayed with classical piano, regularly competing in various local and regional contests.

"My recitals were all Chopin. In high school, I kept that up but also explored Liszt and Rachmaninoff. That was my junior year of high school. I actually learned Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto and was going to compete with that, but this band I played bass guitar in had a gig in Massachussetts the week of the recital ---- and I kind of committed to the band."

The substantive skill Beaumont displayed on his debut disc makes a little more sense when you realize he'd tackled Liszt and Rachmaninoff ---- two of the more challenging classical composers.

Still, he recognized that neither the classical canon nor the old-timey music on his album are all that popular with current audiences, and so he's exploring other possibilities for his next album.

"I ended up listening to a lot of Springsteen on this tour for whatever reason. There's more depth than I was initially expecting.

"I've been listening to a lot of Harry Nilsson. He has very, very interesting piano arrangements without distracting from the melodies. ... Randy Newman ---- he's definitely another hero, another big influence. I've done a few piano sessions recently in L.A. that are more like traditional blues, so I'm starting to pull that in.

"That's my main project at the moment, to become better at the piano."

When he first moved to L.A., Beaumont worked for a tutoring agency, helping students prepare for the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). But since January, he's cut back to just a handful of clients to focus as much of his time as he can on his music.

"Since then, I've been scoring and playing piano bars. I want to continue just from the perpsective of developing as a musician, even if it's playing something that's not remotely like anything I'd be writing ---- just adding to your vocabulary as a musician. The piano man gigs are a lot of fun; I feel that's how you develop as a performer."

Aaron Beaumont

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 1

Where: Lestat's, 3343 Adams Ave., San Diego

Tickets: Call for cover

Info: 619-282-0437 or lestats.com

Web: aaronbeaumont.com