Todd Fritsch: Self-Titled Debut
By: George Peden, CSO Staff Journalist

It can be a risky business, country music. Just ask Todd Fritsch. Sounding like the strains of a country song, a bungled robbery happened as Fritsch and his band left a Houston, Texas, recording studio earlier this year. Fritsch, of Willow Springs, Texas, and his band were out after dark rehearsing for upcoming shows.

‘It was pretty scary, “said the 24-year old at the time. “I saw them running at us, and I thought it was strange.” But the event didn’t deter the shrewd singer, who’s now touring and promoting his album; he threw the band’s pay-packet into his drummer’s truck. The daring robbers escaped with only $64. Fritsch must have known: It’s one thing to suffer for your music, and it’s another to suffer while starving.

However, given the current interest of fans and media, Fritsch and company can rest easy. There’s little chance of starvation. This real ropin’ and herd-pushin’ cowpoke – he helps run the family cattle ranch when he’s not performing – is ready, more than ready, for his shot at fame. Starting out at 13, and encouraged by family and friends, Fritsch, who counts Strait and Haggard as his main influences, has been waiting, as he tells in his liner notes, “For a long-time…completing this album has not come soon enough.”

His obvious enthusiasm and commitment to his music is infectious. Just like the album. Primed with 12 tracks, 4 bearing Fritch’s moniker, the album is a mix of honky-tonk revelry, probing ballads, and shuffles made for hard floors. And it’s not half bad.

Kicking off with “I Got Mexico,” Fritsch brands the reworked song with attitude and flair, sure to please those who remember the tune as a 1984 ground-breaker for Eddy Raven. “Small Town Radio” may be a tale of understatement and simplicity, but the marketing behind the song is big. The track recently went out to all major and minor radio stations in Texas. The strategy worked, as, currently, the cut comes well-placed on the Texas Music Chart.

Other tunes that work well, if you want to rearrange the furniture and annoy the neighbors, include “Memory Do Your Thing.” It’s a misery kicker revisiting better times, while “Friends Behind Bars” is a rocking concoction introducing us to smooth-talking Johnny Walker and mean-spirited Jim Bean, available mates to ease the hurt when love leaves. “Bob Wills Song” is a hit-the-floor-dancin’ fiddle-rich and piano-drivin’ sawdust mover. It’s a killer track.

On the slower cuts, tracks like the cold awaking as heard on “I Don’t Live Here Anymore,” or the power of devotion played out on “You Know I Would,” or the certainty of fate and love colliding on “First Date (For The Last Time),” Fritsch reveals sensitive understandings. “Cowboy Legacy” continues that established mood with a respectful hat tip to singing cowboy Chris LeDoux. LeDoux, a respected face and voice in rodeo-riding and country music, died in March this year from the complications of liver cancer.

You need grit to make it in music. It’s a risky business. But Fritsch has character and courage; a point well-proven when dealing with his would-be robbers. To his cowboy persona, he now adds a great band, catchy tunes, and a voice that reaches beyond the bunkhouse with tales of love and loss.

Oh, and a note to gun-toting robbers with ideas. You won’t have to steal this. It’s readily available in most CD outlets.