|
Todd Fritsch - Sawdust
By George Peden
 Todd
Fritsch. Remember the name. He’s not so much a waiting in the
wings artist; rather, he’s a guy who’s slowly arriving. Out now
with his latest album, his fourth, Sawdust, this real life
cattle-bustin’ cowboy from Texas is finally claiming deserved
applause.
Since
hitting his straps in 2005, the hatted 25 year-old, who still claims
to “ride the line, repair the fencing and doctor the cattle” on
his Willow Springs farm, is back high in the saddle with a 17
tracker sounding as country as anything you’ll hear. Contributing
seven co-writes to the venture, Fritsch has brought some cutting
edge writers – Billy Yates, Leland Martin, Eddy Raven to name a
few – also to the mix. The result is an album that showcases the
voice, style and emotional presence of a guy many think will be huge
in country. Given the early international radio interest, it could
be a safe bet.
Track
7 sums up the mood on offer here -- “If You Don’t Like Country
(Time To Leave)”. When Fritsch lyrically declares: “Don’t ask
me for P-Diddy, Snoop Dog or Dr.Dre; I’m a 100% country and I plan
to stay that way”, well, believe it.
Sawdust
is a consistent album. Consistently good. With a liberal sprinkling
of hard heel kickers, a religious offering with the church inspired
“The Rock” and other traditional fare with enough fiddle, Dobro,
steel, drums and guitar to stamp this as energized pure country,
Fritsch is well on his way to leaving the cows and fences –
another career is looming.
Standout
tracks include the emotively honest “So This Is Love”, the
tuneful truth of “Life’s A Circle” and the welcomed appearance
of Gary P. Nunn on “Every Honky Tonkin’ Hero (Has His Day)”.
Todd
Fritsch. Remember the name. The music speaks for itself.
Website
MySpace Site
Christopher Mark Gray
By Penny Rondinella
 I
came upon the awesome talent of Christopher Mark Gray while following the
amazing career of Chris Young who recently signed a contract with
RCA. He wrote a song entitled "The Star",
which Young recorded on one of his independent albums called A
Very Acoustic Christmas.
Gray
also says that in October of 2006, that very song came out in book
entitled A Country Music Christmas, co-authored by
legendary music publisher Buddy Killen (publisher of Elvis' Heartbreak
Hotel and Patsy Cline's Crazy.) (Buddy recently passed
away of pancreatic cancer.) "The Star" is one song
on a 15 track CD that is included in the book.
In
February of this year, a song that Gray co-wrote with Brent Wilson
was played on WSIX in Nashville during their annual radiothon for
St. Jude (WSIX was the large market station of the year in 2005).
That song entitled Braid My Hair is the first song on
Gray’s myspace page. Several other radio stations have also used
it during their radiothons. Craig Campbell is the singer. He does
not have a deal yet, but he has a great voice and a bright future.
When
asked when he wrote his first song, he states:
I
played around with writing songs in my early teens. I felt that I
had a talent for putting words together and creating songs. Although
I didn’t play an instrument (and still really don’t play very
well), the lyric and the melody always came at the same time. I
wrote my first “official” song at the age of 22 while I was
working a summer job at a camp in Glorieta, New Mexico. I have been
hooked on hooks ever since.
It’s
a tough business out there in Country Music these days, lots of very
talented folks wanting to make that big break. So does Gray
have any advice for others who may be thinking of writing for a
living?
"It
can be a long and winding road (hmmm sounds like a song---but I
think it’s been done). Some days will be frustrating and others
very rewarding. If you truly believe you have a talent, stick with
it. That is what I am doing right now. Through the ups and downs,
try to keep in mind that opinions about songs are very subjective
and can vary from person to person. However, listen to all and learn
from some".
Gray
continues to work on becoming a better writer. He says he's becoming
more and more aware that being a successful writer in Nashville is
very much about co-writing and developing relationships. Keep up the
great work Chris, and I’ll be listening for more and more of your
wonderful songs.
MySpace
Site
|
