Former guitarist of Surfdog/Hollywood Records' (Universal) Alien Fashion Show, Junkyard Todd Thurman release his second solo effort on CDBaby. A personal salute to his indie rock heart, and a triumph of his spirit.
(PRWEB) January 27 2004--Junkyard Todd" Thurman is elated. His latest indie rock CD The Wizard of Northland (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/junkyardtodd2), is an answered prayer and a celebration of the music in his head. In regards to getting the sound right on disc, Thurman laughs; Getting to where the music was how I intended it to sound suddenly became a spiritual quest." His Ramones-esq Thank God for You Know What" with its catchy gimme, gimme, gimme" chorus glorifies Sonic Youth, Bob Mould and Matador Records amongst Thurmans other faves. You Know What" is simply Rock ‘n Roll, and his closing gimme, gimme, gimme a record deal," makes any musician smile in empathy.
Thurman had more than the usual brush with fame. From 1995 to 1999, he was lead guitarist for Alien Fashion Show, a swing band that was signed to Surfdog/Hollywood Records (Universal) and released their self titled CD in 1998. His band toured the United States as the opener for swing heavyweights Brian Setzer Orchestra, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Royal Crowne Review. On the Wizard of Northland, he speaks of this on a track called Also Ran." A fan recognizes him at Guitar Center – in a typical Hey werent you in that band" scenario, as Thurman purchases some guitar strings. Thurman laments what the hell happened to me" and wraps you in his world of almost made it." Its painful. Sadly, the band he refers to officially called it quits in 2001, a statistic of typical baby band-dom," music industry politics and booze-fueled despair.
Thurman hibernated, returned to Cleveland Ohio from Los Angeles and released a solo effort in 2000-Diary of a Mad Cow. Met with a lukewarm reception and Thurmans frustration on how the final product sounded, he went within for several years on what became a surprisingly profound musical quest. Driving home from work, I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life and I said, out loud, to my Angels, or whoever was listening ‘I want to write some really great songs. Songs that people would love, songs that would touch people, the way my favorite songs touch me. Wow, it was like a prayer, (I am not what you would call a praying kind of guy, Thurman acknowledges), and I felt like something inside me changed that day."
"About a week later, I woke up with the faintest echo of a song in my head. I spent the hour before work trying to capture what I was hearing. The result was ‘The Angel Song," Thurman smiles, Over the next few months, the other songs on the record came along in much the same way." Encouraged by positive feedback and airplay on local Cleveland college radio, Thurman mixed and readied his communion at last-with the angelic answer he had been waiting for.
Thurmans journey and triumph The Wizard of Northland is available now on http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/junkyardtodd2 , soundbites are also on the site.
Visit http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/junkyardtodd to hear Diary Of A Mad Cow, Thurmans first solo effort and also visit http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/default.asp?afl=ses&oid=6224 ; A Rolling Stone article
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/alien_fashion_show/bio.jhtml A VH-1 article
See highlights of Thurmans career prior to his solo albums, Alien Fashion Show's CD is still sold on many major retail sites.
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