Meadows Fortune

Artist Information

Biography

Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

He stood there nervously, his self-recorded demo in hand, talking to Scott Phillips and David Hall in the awe-inspiring corridors of Blackbird Studio. But the story of Meadows Fortune began many years before this sunny summer day in Nashville, Tennessee.

Twenty-three years earlier, Jeffery Todd first sat behind the black and white keys of a piano, its enormous frame overpowering his small stature. Little did he know that music would take on such an important role in his adult life. As he learned chords, scales, theory, the building blocks of melodic sound, he never thought that one day he would revisit these ideas in a room where icons of the music industry had stood before him. While his lessons at The Children’s Music Workshop in Bloomington, Indiana sometimes interfered with the desires of childhood, his mother encouraged him to persevere, saying that “one day he would be glad he did.” She was right.

As his training continued, he broadened his perspective by enrolling in the Young Pianist Program at the renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Under the tutelage of incredible musicians such as Christina Poon and Fred Hammond, Jeff gained a deeper understanding for the classical song. During the years he spent in the program, he gained a musical foundation that would undoubtedly prove to be essential. However, his appreciation for the emotional impact of music had not been truly explored until he met his seventh grade teacher, Travis Vanest. An artist, musician, and role-model, Travis gave his students a glimpse into the world of the singer-songwriter. Creating stories of all kinds, his songs allowed the listener to take part in his struggles, triumphs, sadness, and satisfaction. Through Travis, Jeff understood that music was much more than just notes on a page.

Years later, as Jeff began to pursue his dream, he learned that in the music industry, the wrong studio could make even a great artist sound bad. He knew that he had to make a huge decision and needed to find people that he could trust. After speaking with several recording facilities in his hometown, as well as New York and Orlando, he still was not sold on any particular location. He began to look into where his greatest influence, Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Creed, had recorded. Alter Bridge had recorded their second album Blackbird at, ironically, Blackbird Studio. The record had been a great success with the band’s fan base and the studio was highly praised. Because of this, Jeff decided to look into what it would take to bring his dream to Nashville. However, upon visiting the studio’s website, he was overwhelmed and intimidated by the list of clients that stretched across the screen. Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Evanscence, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, Bruce Springsteen, The Fray, Keith Urban, Paramore, Dolly Parton, Bon Jovi, and that was just on the first page. “I don’t fit in here,” Jeff thought to himself. “They’ll laugh me all the way back to Bloomington.” This wasn’t a place for some unknown kid, with no experience, to record his first album... or was it?

Sometimes you just have to take a chance.

Instrumentation

Jeffery D. Todd - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, ukulele

Discography

Reckless Believer, 2011

Official Website

http://www.meadowsfortune.com

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Last.fm
• ReverbNation

Audio

• 10 Brand New Day
  Listen  
• Holding On
  Listen  
• Temporary Solution
  Listen  
• Last Goodbye
  Listen  
• 5 Reckless Believer
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Brand New Day
• Holding On
• Temporary Solution
• Last Goodbye

Video

Temporary Solution - Official Music Video.mov

Last Goodbye - Official Music Video.mp4

Photo Gallery

Press

• Meadows Fortune to play Bear's Place [+ Show ]
  

  The music of Meadows Fortune, long time Bloomington-er Jeffery Todd, seems an act better suited for ...The music of Meadows Fortune, long time Bloomington-er Jeffery Todd, seems an act better suited for summer graduations and weddings than for the warm yellow walls of Bear’s Place. However, Todd’s vocals are beautiful and tinged sweetly with his native Nashville, and what’s more his nostalgic sentiment is real, even tear-jerking, and characterized by lifelong ambitions to perform and create. Todd’s descriptions of his first days behind the piano are given with a characteristic humility. All the same, this twenty-three year old has much to brag about: his 2011 album “Reckless Believer” for instance. Aspiring to share the same Nashville venues as Taylor Swift, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Bruce Springsteen, perhaps a ‘believer’ is Todd’s perfect epithet. And yet with one listen of his “Last Goodbye,” you’re liable to be a believer as well.

• Reckless Believer Review [+ Show ]
  

  This is quite a good set of music. “Brand New Day” is the best number of the whole set. It’s the mo...This is quite a good set of music. “Brand New Day” is the best number of the whole set. It’s the most dynamic and creative piece on the disc and it’s actually worth the price of admission by itself. It combines folk music, modern rock, and classic rock all into one tapestry that’s organic and potent. While these guys might not have completely knocked it out of the park with this album, it’s a great showing. It demonstrates a lot of talent in terms of song-writing (the hooks are great) and performance. It bodes well for even stronger efforts from Meadows Fortune in the future. Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)

Setlist

Where I Want to Be
Wild Night (Cover)
Temporary Solution
Last Goodbye
Hotel California (Cover)
Reckless Believer
The Only One
Teardrops on My Guitar (Cover)
Better Man
Brand New Day

Alternates:
Peaceful Easy Feeling (Cover)
Hallelujah (Cover)

Basic Requirements

Calendar