Hey Rob, I must tell you … I wish I’d written it myself.
- Alan Roy Scott, co-founder of the Unisong International Song Contest,
commenting on Frail’s Top Five Winner, ‘My So-Called Democracy’
www.unisong.com/Winners11.aspx
When contractor Rob Frail lost a computer programming gig in 2003, he seized the chance to listen more closely to the voices that had been harmonizing in his head, and wrote their songs. These songs combined themes of social injustice and quirks of love with compelling music. Think Bob Dylan meets David Byrne; they fall madly in love.
“Dylan!? Ha!” An audacious reference, for sure, but those who hear his music agree (more later). When Frail finds a passion (why can’t you have more than one?), his commitment is all-consuming. Armed with his computer programming skills, his grandfather’s rhyming dictionary from 1937, and a swaggering over-confidence masking a fear of failure, he put fingers to keyboard and imagination into overdrive. Soon, he evolved a voice (in all senses of the word) all his own, driven by a disdain for clichés and boredom with Seinfeld reruns. The results were some unusual, yet totally sensical lyrics.
Frail became a “method songwriter,” with the ability to project himself into a situation, then experience and articulate the emotional results. For example, he wrote a convincing song about war (Alive) without ever having worn a uniform. Call him an emotional documentarian.
In August 2005, Frail discovered songwriting contests. His first entry, in American Songwriter magazine’s lyric contest, won Honorable Mention. To date, eleven of his songs have won over twenty awards, including two Honorable Mentions in the prestigious Billboard World Song Contest. In addition, the lyrics to four of his songs have been published in an international journal of poetry, Shabdaguchha.
More enticing than awards, for the listener, are the varied genres of these songs, spanning Folk, Rock, Reggae and Country. What they have in common are a commitment to groove and lyrics that, while remaining accessible, catch the ear (and any brain that may be attached), and hold it like a straight jacket during which the emotions are engaged and the intellect is rewarded. With no syllable left behind. WARNING: These songs have not been dumbed down.
More important are Frail’s riveting personal depictions of universal human conditions, as articulated in songs about:
• the Iraqi War from a grunt’s point of view (Alive);
• the pervasive perversion of the media by it’s corporate pimps (My So-Called Democracy);
• our American brand of terrorism born of racism, known as lynching (Talkin’ A Noose Too Far Blues);
• an Iraqi man’s 21 year plight to get the last laugh on Saddam Hussein (What Did I Miss?);
• the working class’s disposability by the corporate kleptocracy, where justice is blind – to greed gone wild
(The Other Side Of Somehow).
And then there are his serious songs.
But most important are the reactions of those who hear Frail’s music. By this time in a typical musician’s bio, you’re likely to have seen such sleep-inducing descriptions as “unique,” “eclectic,” and “authentic”. In keeping with Frail’s disdain for clichés (and a fancy for mash-ups), let’s call it u-thenti-clectic. Reviewers at Taxi (“The World’s Leading Independent A&R Company”), many of whom are Grammy winners or nominees, have said of different songs:
• Bold & very “Dylan-esque”!!! AWESOME – so honest in feelings & universal!!!!
• I am FLOORED by this song’s lyrics. This is brilliant, very disquieting writing – has the soul of Muddy Waters.
• Blows my mind lyrically – stunning story telling that is provocative, showing .. depth of principal in the artist.
• Cool music. Sounds like Talking Heads.
With longtime jam-mate Tom Connolly (guitars, vocals) and various rhythm sections, Frail’s band Shoot The Messenger has appeared regularly at top venues in New York City, including CBGBs, Arlenes’ Grocery, The Bowery Poetry Club, The Back Fence, and Shrine. Festivals appearances include MEANYFest, NYC; Mid Point Music Festival.
During performances, Frail is known for vocally harmonizing with his guitar lines, and quoting jazz artists like Wes Montgomery. Frail has a strong jazz streak, and takes the occasional lesson with jazz-rock fusion legend Larry Coryell, a long-time supporter of Frail’s folk-fusion efforts.
So go listen to the songs and see Shoot The Messenger live to experience the band that defined u-thenti-clectic.
Hey Rob! It has been a VERY long time! I got the scoop of this website from your mom last night. Interesting, to say the least – but you have always “marched to the beat of the different drummer.” So glad to know you are alive and well in NYC!