Episode #12 of the Fro Show is up now on iTunes, Stitcher and Mixcloud. It features indie folk/rock tracks from:
Robin Mitchell - Turn of the Tide
Robin is a Bristol-based indie singer/songwriter & poet, with a love for genre-blending, borrowing and stealing.
"A grow-your-own type affair... gentle acoustic guitars play around Mitchell’s subdued vocals and backing harmonies... Mitchell is superb at what he does." (Live Music Scene)
Robin also fronts a Bristol powerpop/rock outfit called Absent Me!, and has been linked to the secretive electronic artist Mystery White Boy.
Josh Woodward - Cherubs
Josh Woodward seems to have a career death wish. A prolific indie acoustic-rock songwriter, he has released ten albums in the past eight years, but he has chosen to give away all of his music for free. In a world of $18 CDs and lawsuits against file sharing grandmothers, Josh offers 180 songs as free downloads from his websites, and sells CDs on a name-your-own-price basis.
This gamble has paid off well; he's used file sharing to build a viral, worldwide network of fans. After over three-and-a-half million MP3 downloads from his site, he's living proof that the music world is changing. His brand of energetic and passionate delivery with vivid stories, clever wordplay and dark humor may not be for everyone, but the Internet has made it possible to find its audience.
To date, he's released ten albums. His most recent, "The Wake", was released in August 2012. The album represents a distillation of the best of what his music has to offer: upbeat folk rockers, delicate acoustic pieces, with a touch of humor in places. VideoSongs - music videos of the entire production process - were made for each of the 13 songs. A Kickstarter campaign to fund the album ended up being overfunded by 250%. As with all of Josh's music, it's a one-man operation: written, performed, recorded and released with a do-it-yourself, guerilla mentality.
The Internet is the main source of exposure for Josh's music. With almost 10,000 subscribers YouTube for the many VideoSongs and acoustic performances, and over ten thousand videos from other users feature his music, totalling over 150 million views. He was also a featured artist for Clear Channel New in Winter 2006, which included extensive online promotion and national radio airplay. He's one of the most downloaded artists on Jamendo, a Creative Commons music site, where he won the award for Best Pop Artist in 2011. Since 2010, "Swansong" has been the featured song in Ubuntu Linux.
Big Blood - So Old Again
Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin, wife-n-husband duo based in the wilds of Maine, Portland. Despite the exceptionally high quality of their music, everything released to date is very purposefully on CD-R, created at home and at Colleen Kinsella's print shop, and sold individually as long as people keep asking for them. When not raising their daughter in a big 'ol house collective-style with many other musicians, they write songs, practice, create art, and live the life of true folk artists.
Robin Grey - The Freezer Song
Inspired by the timeless work of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joanna Newsom amongst many others, Robin colours in his songs about love and life with guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, piano, double bass, organ, percussion toys and any other instruments he can afford and fit into his little studio.
His music has been described as ‘gently experimental nu-folk’ and compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson and Harry Chaplin – he is a bit distressed by the misspelling of the word ‘new’ and has no idea who Harry Chaplin is.
With his live show, Robin has graced the boards of Cecil Sharpe House, The Southbank Centre, Wilton Music Hall and The Union Chapel as well as performing closer to the earth around London’s gardens; King Henry’s Walk, The Urban Physic Garden, The Centre For Wildlife Gardening and Dalston Eastern Curve to name but a few.
