This past year has been a groundbreaking period for John Fullbright, and the Grammy nomination for From The Ground Up was just one of many highlights. Since its release in May 2012, Fullbright’s first studio album has garnered high praise from peers and pundits alike, making the young Oklahoman one of the most talked about young singer/songwriter in music today.
In December, he received the prestigious ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Writing Award, calling Fullbright “one of the best writers in a long, long time.” Earlier in the year, he was invited to sing for the Chuck Berry Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Tribute. While the rest of the cast strapped on Fender guitars, he played Downbound Train on piano as Chuck sat 20 feet away.
Singer, songwriter, incredible musician, Fullbright delivers a fabulous performance with his great voice, captivating lyrics with a wide range of emotions accompanied by a combination of harmonica, piano and guitar.
I first saw him at the Sisters Folk Festival and now I play this album, From the Ground Up, regularly…especially the first track, Gawd Above. For a young soulful artist with a first studio release, this is an amazing album.
‘I made the heaven and earth
I made the stars above
Is it too much to ask for a little love’
-Gawd Above
The portrayal of big business in America (Fat Man) and synopsis of Christianity (Gawd Above) are just some of the songs that make this album, with a wide range of genre from blues and folk to gospel and country, so great and appealing.
Fullbright explains on NPR his Oklahoma background and thus the lyics on his album. “[My family] had a little farm, about 80 acres — that’s where I live now. The little farmhouse that I was raised in until I was about nine, that’s where the title for the CD came from. Every song on this record was written in that house, and I was kind of written in that house.”
According to a post on his website, Fullbright traverses an emotional and musical terrain that is extremely broad, showing equal acuity with tender ballads and songs that make you want to drive faster with the windows rolled down according to post. Firmly rooted in a variety of musical styles, he draws on what has come before, but without imitation. Forget labels when you listen to John Fullbright. He is not folk, not Americana and not pop, but possibly the best fusion of them all.
By Pamela Hulse Andrews
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