Inspired as much by the New Orleans funk of Allen Touissant as the Chicago blues of his hometown, Josh Farrow puts a dark spin on American roots music with his full-length debut, Trouble Walks With Me, out October 28.
Written and recorded in Nashville, Trouble Walks With Me finds Farrow pulling triple-duty as lead singer, songwriter and ringleader. On his first full-length collection he ignores the rules of his new home - a Tennessee city ruled by cowboy-hatted country stars strumming acoustic guitars - and carves out his own sound, with the help of guests including Ruby Amafu, Elizabeth Cook, and the McCrary Sisters, to name a few.
"Before You Leave," a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, turns the traditional love song format on its head, while "Who's Gonna Love You When I'm Gone" - one of Trouble's two songs to be featured in the ABC TV show "Nashville" - offers groove and grit in equal doses. Also making an appearance on the album is Farrow's first single, "Devil Don't You Fool Me," which racked up more than 350,000 Spotify streams during its own release. Self-funded and independently released, Trouble Walks With Me finds Farrow - a festival favorite who has performed on the main stages at both Hangout and Merlefest - chasing down success on his own terms, bringing with him a sound that's smoky, soulful and signature.
Farrow - an Illinois-born kid who played punk rock music as a teenager - didn't come to Nashville chasing a musical dream. Instead, he moved to Music City in his early 20s to chase after his future wife. He was soon immersed in Nashville's Americana scene, an event seemingly willed by fate - he even met the project's producer Dexter Green, at an East Nashville pizza shop. Over the course of a year, they pieced together the 10 songs that comprise Trouble Walks With Me, calling on local guests to lend their help in the recording studio.
The resulting album features swells of organ, bursts of piano, gospel overtones, layers of background harmonies and plenty of slow-boiling soul, creating a varied collection of blues songs and smooth ballads, but its story is bigger than the music itself - it's a portrait of a community working together, operating outside of the Nashville machine.
For more information, visit http://www.joshfarrow.com
