Todd Fritsch
Sawdust [The Diamond Music Group] 2007
Produced by Doug DeForest
Review by Cheryl Breo
If you’re a fan of true, traditional country music, then Todd Fritsch’s new CD “Sawdust” will have you hooked from track 1 all the way through to track 17; proof that nothing is done “small” in Texas. The CD has a well organized mix of country, honky tonk toe tappers, to mellow slower paced love ballads.
“So This Is Love”, written by Todd and Doug Deforest; about a man’s first awakening to the emotion of what true love feels like; “First Date (For The Last Time)” penned by Fritsch, Doug Deforest and Randy Sarver; plus “All That’s Left Is You”, by Todd, Doug Deforest and Joe Barnhill are those wonderful songs of love and the shivers it can send up our spine when it’s real and new. “No Part Of”, by Billy Yates and Willis R. Nance; take Todd’s voice from ballad to upbeat, and tells the flip side story of love; the cheating, lying, feeling lonely side of love.
A tender standout track is “Life’s a Circle”, co-written by Todd and Doug Deforest. Todd’s deep, full voice takes us on the journey of a grandfather and his grandson as the grandpa tells his grandson the story of his life, his courtship and love for his grandma, about the value of hard work, the importance of keeping your loved ones close in your heart…lessons taught with wisdom in his words, “remember life’s a circle son; it ain’t got no end.”
“Five Mornings Down” by Joe Barnhill, and “If You Don’t Like Country (Time To Leave); written by Fritsch and Doug Deforest; are upbeat, old fashioned country honky tonk songs….proof that Todd’s roots are planted firmly in country, “like cornbread and turnip greens…”; now toss in “Little Joe The Wrangler, and there will be no crossing over for this cowboy.
Then there is my personal favorite “The Rock” written by Aaron Scherz, Jeff Batson and Thom Shepherd. This is a beautiful ballad whose story is told through the eyes of a church that opened up its doors in the spring of 1844. The church tells of the decades of love and pain, the births, the passings, the confessions, the praises, the worship, the songs sung where “even the angels in my rafters rejoiced and sang along.” “The Rock” reminds us that it is “stained glass and stone, the foundation this town was built upon—and is held together by the faithful that gather here.” A remarkable, spiritual song.
“Sawdust” and Todd Fritsch is the genuine article if you want to hear some real, old fashioned, steel guitar, blue grass country. Just make sure you add “Sawdust” to your collection.
