Ash Grunwald is an Australian
radio announcerA radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
and
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Early career
The Blue Grunwalds, one of Grunwald's first
bandsIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, released the
albumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Groove Cave, which enjoyed healthy sales, local community
radioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
airplay and favourable reviews in the local press.
In 2001 Grunwald formed a
trioTrio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
called the Groove Catalysts. The Groove Catalysts have played every major blues venue in Melbourne and have enjoyed popular residencies in many of them. In 2001 through 2002, the Groove Catalysts played at several major outdoor
festivalsA music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
, sharing the stage with Australian blues acts such as Geoff Achison, Harper, Collard Greens And Gravy, Chris Wilson and Lloyd Spiegel.
As a
soloIn music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artistA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, Grunwald has maintained several residencies over the past few years and has toured throughout
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and the east coast of Australia.
Throughout 2001 Grunwald played in a
duoA duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Lloyd Spiegel, and played several
concertA concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s with Ian Collard (of Collard Greens And Gravy).
Solo career
Grunwald drew attention as a solo artist with the release of 2002's Introducing Ash Grunwald, a collection of originals and blues standards that included "Smokestack Lightnin'" (
Howlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
) "
The Sky Is Crying"The Sky Is Crying" is a song that has become a blues standard. The song was written and recorded by Elmore James in 1959. Called "one of his most durable compositions", "The Sky Is Crying" became a R&B record chart hit and has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists.-Original song:"The...
" (
Elmore JamesElmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
) and "Rolling And Tumbling" (Robert Johnson) recorded live with only
acoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and foot percussion consisting of a
stomp boxthumb|Puck'n Stompa by PetermanA stomp box or stompbox is a simple percussion instrument consisting of a small wooden box placed under the foot, which is tapped or stamped on rhythmically to produce a sound similar to that of a bass drum. A stomp box allows a performer such as a singer or guitar...
and
tambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
.
The album also includes "Dolphin Song," which is based on an actual encounter Grunwald, a devout surfer, had with a
sharkSharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
and the pod of
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s that came to his rescue.
The positive response to Grunwald's debut resulted in two Australian Blues Awards (The Chain Awards) for 'Best Emerging Talent' and 'Male Vocalist of the Year' in 2003.
In 2004 Ash released his follow up album I Don't Believe, once again recorded solo and live. Since his initial release he had been made aware of two
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
albums,
SwordfishtrombonesSwordfishtrombones is an album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1983. It was the first album that Waits produced himself....
and
Bone MachineBone Machine is a critically acclaimed and award-winning album by Tom Waits, released in 1992 on Island Records. It won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, and features guest appearances by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo, Primus' Les Claypool, and The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards.Bone...
. As a result, he emulates Waits' experimental bang and clang percussion using hammers, spanners, pots etc., in addition to a boss loop station as a bed for his lap steel, dobro and acoustic guitars. The album included six originals, two Waits compositions, "Going Out West" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here" (a cappela with hand claps) and blues standards "Walking Blues" and "Cross Roads" (Robert Johnson), "Empire State" (
Son HouseEddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
) and "How Many More Years" (
Howlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
).
On the strength of this release Grunwald received an
ARIA AwardThe 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex...
nomination for 'Best Blues And Roots Album' in 2004, and the Victorian Blues award for 'Male Vocalist Of The Year' (equal with Lloyd Spiegel) and in 2005 the MBAS Vic / Tas award for Solo / Duo Of The Year (equal with Dave Hogan).
For the Live At The Corner album (songs from his first two releases plus
Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
's "
Spoonful"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton , itself related to "All I Want Is A Spoonful" by Papa Charlie Jackson and "Cocaine Blues" by Luke Jordan...
" featuring Ian Collard on harmonica) Grunwald won the 2005 MBAS Vic / Tas and Australian Blues awards Album Of The Year in addition to being nominated once again for the 'Best Blues And Roots album' at the
2005 ARIA AwardsThe 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney Superdome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the previous year's innovation of televising the awards on Sunday evening...
.
In May 2005, Grunwald was invited to take over as host of
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
's Thursday night show '
Roots N AllRoots N All is the blues and roots music program on national Australian youth broadcaster Triple J. It is broadcast on Thursday nights between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. It started out as a 2 hour program starting at 11pm, but since 2006 has been expanded into a 3 hour show starting at 10pm.Roots 'N All...
'.
In August 2006 Grunwald released Give Signs recorded on his own
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Delta Groove Records. As with preceding albums it was recorded live and solo which received another
ARIA AwardThe 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...
nomination for 'Best Blues and Roots Album'. In 2006, Grunwald supported
James BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
at his
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
n concert.
On 21 December 2006 Grunwald finished his role as a Triple J presenter. In September 2007 he was nominated for another ARIA award for Best Blues and Roots Album.
Ash released his next studio album, Fish Out Of Water on the 30 of August 2008, with the album reaching #43 on the
ARIA chartsThe ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. The new album was greeted with positive reviews with many of the critics saying it is one of the best blues/roots albums of the year and a career highlight for Ash. The new album which was written with
TZUFor the ancient chinese military strategist and author, see Sun Tzu.TZU are an Australian hip hop group, originating from Melbourne, Victoria. They are known for live shows with significant crowd involvement, at festivals such as Big Day Out, Falls Festival, MS Fest and the Meredith Music Festival,...
's beatsmith Phillip Norman (aka Countbounce) enters new territory for Grunwald with many of the songs gaining a hip hop edge to Ash's traditional Delta blues. Several tracks gained significant airplay on the national youth broadcaster Triple J some of these included "Breakout", "Devil Called Me A Liar" and "Joke On Me". The album was also nominated 'Best Blues and Roots Album' at the
2009 ARIA AwardsThe 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night...
.
Grunwald appeared for the first time in a
Triple J Hottest 100The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
with one entry in the
2008 countdownThe 2008 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2009. It was the sixteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station, Triple J....
, with "Breakout" reaching number 50.
In October 2009 Grunwald recorded a performance at
FremantleFremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
's Fly By Night club for a release as a live album in early 2010. He also revealed in an interview with Sarah Howells of
Triple Jtriple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
that he has started work on a new studio album.
Ash Grunwald’s fifth studio album, Hot Mama Vibes was released 4 June 2010. It was recorded at Alchemix Studio in Brisbane, DJ Debris Studio in the Adelaide Hills and The Container in Melbourne. The Album features contributions from Mr Trials, Countbounce, Chasm, Fingers Malone, Benny Owen and Kanchana Karunaratna. "Mixing electronica with the blues was always a dream of mine," said Grunwald. "On the first album I was really trying to strip it back to raw elements, just be as soulful as possible. I guess every album since then has been a gradual move towards this point." "It's not something I would have put out there in the past. I would have constrained myself; I wouldn't have felt comfortable. This is my fifth album so it was time to just launch in there, do whatever I felt like." The first song taken from the album, "Walking" has gained coverage on Triple J, also featuring in the film Limitless and on its soundtrack.
APRA Awards
The
APRA AwardsThe APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
are presented annually from 1982 by the
Australasian Performing Right AssociationThe Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
(APRA).
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2010The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2010 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards...
|| "Breakout" (Ashley Groenewald, Pip Norman) || Blues & Roots Work of the Year
||
ARIA Awards
The
ARIA Music AwardsThe Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
are presented annually from 1987 by the
Australian Recording Industry AssociationThe Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA). Ash Grunwald has had four nominations, all in the category of 'Best Blues & Roots Album'.
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2004The 18th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 17 October 2004 at the Sydney Superdome within the Sydney Olympic Complex...
|| I Don't Believe || Best Blues & Roots Album ||
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|
2005The 19th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 23 October 2005 at the Sydney Superdome at the Sydney Olympic Park complex, thus continuing the previous year's innovation of televising the awards on Sunday evening...
|| Live at the Corner || Best Blues & Roots Album ||
|-
|
2007The 21st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 28 October 2007 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Rove McManus was the host of the event...
|| Give Signs || Best Blues & Roots Album ||
|-
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2009The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night...
|| Fish out of Water || Best Blues & Roots Album ||
Albums/EPs
- Introducing Ash Grunwald - Black Market Music (August 2002)
- I Don't Believe - Head (5 April 2004)
- Live At The Corner - Head (7 February 2005)
- Give Signs - Delta Groove (28 August 2006)
- Live From The Factory - Delta Groove (DG005) (2008)
- Fish Out of Water - Delta Groove (DG006) (18 August 2008) (AUS #43)
- Hot Mama Vibes - Delta Groove (4 June 2010)
External links