Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
HERALD SUN REVIEW Sunday 8th October 2006
“A rare, hidden gem from a forest of troubadours.” ***1/2
“Every now and then, when the mainstream demands your attention because of either talent, timing or marketing flair, a low-profile artist can slip through the net. Hello Justin Grounds, of Warrandyte.
Two years ago, Grounds, a vagabond of sorts, began his journey when he “stuffed a few clothes, notebooks, a guitar and some paintbrushes in a bag” and left England. Well now he’s arrived at a magical, musical place.
Francesco is a gentle charmer, which channels Jeff Buckley at times in some well-crafted songs and sweet melodies.
The album is bookended with the outstanding acoustic opener, Cathedral Bells and the closer, Broken Open. In between is the haunting moodiness of The Painter, the yearning ache of Autumn Song and a mid-tempo change of pace with the Fishing Song. Guest vocalist Karly Warkentin is a dream on Summer Jacket.
-Scott Podmore-
- Herald Sun
Discography
2004 "Ride and flow" Joy records (U.K)
2006 " Francesco" Exploding Tree Records distributed thru SoundVault Records
also availableon itunes and Cdbaby
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
JUSTIN GROUNDS
Justin Grounds is an English singer-songwriter with a voice that rings through your chest like an old church bell, a sound that grew from his deep roots of music; melody, harmony, rhythm, the spirit of a song that enters into you and changes the room around you. Immersed in a diverse musical world from an early age, his hippie mother would play him Bob Dylan records, while his academic father put on Beethoven. After some years of sight-reading Mozart and Bach on violin and clarinet, he started to collect a veritable menagerie of stringed instruments, drums, whistles, anything he could lay hands on. As a teen he cut his teeth playing symphony orchestras and jazz bands, blues jams and string quartets, one night in an evening jacket, the next in a denim jacket. People began to wonder how he got around so quickly. Then they saw his rusty old bike.
While studying electro-acoustic composition, he also toured with the legendary UK drum’n’bass collective Keiretsu (www.dartrecordings.co.uk), writing and recording 3 albums and revolutionizing their sound with his electric violin and Spanish guitar. But during these years on the road his creative energy took a more personal focus. He would increasingly be found reading T.S.Eliot backstage, oblivious to the whirlwind around him. In 2003 he was invited to collaborate with composer Richard Meehan (of Beamer Grande) on an album of pop songs (Blue Tuesday), and in 2004 he finally went into the studio alone, to record his debut album ‘Rise and Flow’ with UK label Joy Records;
“an inspirational, soul enriching album which has drawn comparisons to Jeff Buckley and Jack Johnson.” (Giles Travers-Level5Records)
A restless soul, Grounds became fascinated by the little known 60s songwriter Vashti Bunyan, whose record ‘Another Diamond Day’ was written during an epic 2 year odyssey from London to Scotland in a gypsy caravan. With the stirrings of a new album to come, Grounds took off with the goal of making a record of his own on the road. His journey took him through his native England and into France, Italy, the USA, Hawaii and Canada, where he toured and wrote with Vancouver singer Karly Warkentin, Hawaii band ‘The Girlas’ and many more. Over a year of recording and wondering has brought him to Melbourne, Australia where he lives on an old orchard, and has released the new album ‘Francesco’ independently through his own label, Exploding Tree Records.
His live shows are always warm, unique experiences; full of live loops, strings, guitars, and of course his fragile and haunting voice.
Justin toured the first single "cathederal bells" nationally in Nov 2006 in Australia and has just returned from the U.K, USA and Canada where he enjoyed a great response and sell out shows in the UK.
Justin is now releasing a second single off the album and planning to tour thru May and June in Australia as well as start work on a new album, with more international touring planned in the future.
"...a rare, hidden gem...with haunting moodiness and yearning ache." Scott Podmores Herald Sun
"...echoes of Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. Need i say anything else? A superbly crafted, melodically strong album that continues to grow with each listen." John Carver PBS fm
"...a haunting sound, shrouded in some sort of holy and magical crescendo." STU magazine
To hear more music not contained in this epk go to www.myspace.com/justingrounds
Links
