Ash Grunwald (born Ashley Mark Groenewald, 5 September 1976) is an Australian blues musician. He has released nine studio albums and has received five nominations for

ARIA Music Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...

s. Five albums have charted in the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

top 50; '' Fish out of Water'' (2008), '' Hot Mama Vibes'' (2010), '' Trouble's Door'' (2012), ''

Gargantua ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagru ...

'' (2013) and '' Mojo'' (2019).

Career

1976–2001: Early years and early bands

Under the guidance of his grandfather, Ash learned to play guitar and bass as a young child and together they recorded his first ever song – a cover of

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade car ...

's " Going Down Slow". Grunwald began listening to the blues shows on Melbourne's community radio stations as a teenager. By his early 20s, Grunwald had been in and out of several bands including the Blue Grunwalds and the Groove Catalysts, as well as playing in a couple of duos. The Blue Grunwalds, released the album ''Groove Cave'', which generated some local interest. The Groove Catalysts played a number of blues venues in Melbourne and at several

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...

throughout 2001 and 2002. Grunwald was trained as a secondary school teacher, which he left at age 26.

2002–2005: Career beginnings with Head Records – ''Introducing Ash Grunwald'', ''I Don't Believe'' and ''Live at the Corner''

Grunwald drew attention as a solo artist with the release of his debut studio album, ''Introducing Ash Grunwald'', a collection of blues standards and originals, including "Dolphin Song," which is based on a real life encounter Grunwald experienced with a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

and the pod of dolphins that came to his rescue. The positive response to Grunwald's debut resulted in two Australian Blues Awards (The Chain Awards) for 'Best Emerging Talent' and 'Male Vocalist of the Year' in 2003. In 2004, released his follow up album '' I Don't Believe'', On the album, Grunwald emulated

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

experimental bang and clang percussion using hammers, spanners and pots. The album included six originals, two Waits compositions, "Going Out West" and "Jesus Gonna Be Here" and blues standards. Grunwald received an

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

nomination for ' Best Blues and Roots Album' in 2004, and the Victorian Blues award for 'Male Vocalist of the Year' (equal with Lloyd Spiegel) and in 2005 the MBAS Vic / Tas award for Solo / Duo of the Year (equal with Dave Hogan). In June 2004, Grunwald recorded ''Live at the Corner'', an album of songs from his first two releases. Grunwald won the 2005 MBAS Vic / Tas and Australian Blues awards Album of the Year in addition to being nominated once again for the 'Best Blues And Roots album' at the 2005 ARIA Awards. In May 2005, Grunwald was invited to take over as host of

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

's Thursday night show ' Roots N All'.

2006–2009: Delta Groove Records – ''Give Signs'', ''Fish Out of Water''

In August 2006 Grunwald released '' Give Signs'' recorded on his own record label, Delta Groove Records. The album received another

nomination for 'Best Blues and Roots Album'. In 2006, Grunwald supported James Brown at his

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n concert. On 21 December 2006 Grunwald finished his role as a Triple J presenter. In September 2007 he was nominated for another ARIA award for Best Blues and Roots Album. Grunwald released his fourth studio album, '' Fish Out of Water'' on 30 August 2008, with the album reaching No. 43 on the

ARIA charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

. The new album was greeted with positive reviews with many of the critics saying it is one of the best blues/roots albums of the year. Several tracks gained significant airplay on the national youth broadcaster

some of these included "Breakout", "Devil Called Me a Liar" and "Joke on Me". Grunwald appeared for the first time in a

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the ...

with one entry in the 2008 countdown, with "Breakout" reaching number 50. ''Fish Out of Water'' was nominated 'Best Blues and Roots Album' at the 2009 ARIA Awards, Grunwald's fourth in this category. In October 2009 Grunwald recorded a performance at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

's Fly By Night club for a release as a live album in early 2010.

2010–2018: ''Hot Mama Vibes'', ''Trouble's Door'', ''Gargantua'' and ''Now''

Grunwald's fifth studio album, '' Hot Mama Vibes'' was released 4 June 2010. The Album featured contributions from Mr Trials, Countbounce, Chasm, Fingers Malone, Benny Owen and Kanchana Karunaratna. Grunwald said "Mixing electronica with the blues was always a dream of mine. On the first album I was really trying to strip it back to raw elements, just be as soulful as possible. I guess every album since then has been a gradual move towards this point." '' Hot Mama Vibes'' was nominated 'Best Blues and Roots Album' at the 2010 ARIA Awards. By the end of 2010, Grunwald relocated with his family to

Byron Bay Byron Bay (Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

and it was here he began recording his sixth studio album, the 2012 release '' Trouble's Door''. The album was well-supported by

, particularly lead single " Longtime" which spent many weeks in high rotation. Grunwald went on to win an APRA Award for "Longtime" for Blues Song of The Year. In early 2013, Grunwald teamed up with

Scott Owen Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

and Andy Strachan (from

The Living End The Living End are an Australian punk rockabilly band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 199 ...

) and recorded a version of

Gnarls Barkley Gnarls Barkley are an American soul duo, composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, ''St. Elsewhere'', in 2006. It contained their hit single "Crazy", which peaked at number two on ...

's "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

" which was released as a free download through Grunwald's website. "Crazy" was picked up by

Austereo Austereo was an Australian mass media company based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1980 by Paul Thompson, and operated 16 radio stations in metropolitan and regional Australia under the Today Network and Triple M brands. In 2011, the company' ...

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back t ...

network and lead to a live performance on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

's program '' The Morning Show''. The unplanned success of the single took the three back into the studio where they re-recorded some of Grunwald existing tracks; adding a driving rhythm section. The collection of tracks was released in June 2013 under the title ''

''. The album peaked at number 46 on the ARIA Charts. Throughout 2014, Grunwald toured rigorously overseas, most significantly supporting

Xavier Rudd Xavier Rudd (born 29 May 1978) is an Australian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. Several of Rudd's songs incorporate socially conscious themes, such as spirituality, humanity, environmentalism and the rights of Indig ...

throughout the United States. During that trip Grunwald was awarded the LA Music Critic Award for Best International Act. In late 2014, Grunwald returned to the studio and in February 2015, The title of his eighth studio album was unveiled as ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

''. The album was subsequently released on 25 September 2015 and peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Charts.

2019–present: ''Mojo'' and ''Push the Blues Away''

In 2019, Grunwald signed with Bloodlines Music, the company re-released his back catalogue on vinyl in February 2019. In June 2019, Grunwald released "Whispering Voice" with

Kasey Chambers Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. She is the daughter of fellow musicians, Diane and Bill Chambers, and the younger sister of musician and producer, Nash Chambers ...

, the lead single from Grunwald's ninth studio album ''Mojo''. '' Mojo'' was released in August 2019 and peaked at number 40 on the ARIA Charts. ''Mojo'' was produced by Brian Brinkerhoff, Carla Olson and Ash. Also in August 2019, Grunwald published his first book ''Surf by Day, Jam by Night''. In the book, Grunwald interviews 15 of the world's top surfer-musicians; including

Kelly Slater Robert Kelly Slater (born February 11, 1972) is an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. Slater is widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. Slater is als ...

Stephanie Gilmore Stephanie Louise Gilmore (29 January 1988) is an Australian professional surfer and eight-time world champion on the Women's WSL World Tour (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2022). Career Gilmore's life as a surfer began at age 9 w ...

, Jack Johnson, Dave Rastovich, Pete Murray, G. Love and many more. It was published by Pantera Press on 19 August 2019. In August 2020, Grunwald released his first greatest hits compilation, a 30-track album, titled ''Anthology 2002–2020''. On 23 August, Josh Teskey and Ash Grunwald premiered the song "Thinking 'Bout Myself" on ABC's '' The Sound''. The song is the lead single from their collaborative album, '' Push the Blues Away'', released on 13 November 2020. Grunwald released ''Shout Into the Noise'' in March 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Notes

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, ''Fish Out of Water'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, ''Hot Mama Vibes'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, ''Trouble's Door'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album , , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, ''Push the Blues Away'' , Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP , ,

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". , - ,

, , "Breakout" (Ashley Groenewald, Pip Norman) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - , 2011 , , "Walking" (Ash Grunwald) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, , " Longtime" (Ash Grunwald) , , Blues & Roots Work of the Year , , , - ,

, "Ain't My Problem" (featuring

the Teskey Brothers The Teskey Brothers are an Australian blues rock band from Melbourne, named after the two brothers who formed the group in 2008: Josh Teskey ( vocals, rhythm guitar) and Sam Teskey ( lead guitar). In 2019 they signed with Glassnote Records an ...

) , Most Performed Blues & Roots Work , , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, "Hungry Heart" , Most Performed Blues and Roots Work ,

ARIA Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are presented annually from 1987 by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA). Ash Grunwald has had six nominations, all in the category of

ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Blues and Roots Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Reco ...

. ! , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , ''I Don't Believe'' , ,

, , , , rowspan="5", , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, , ''Live at the Corner'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, , '' Give Signs'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

, , '' Fish Out of Water'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

, , '' Hot Mama Vibes'' , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , , - ,

, , ''Push the Blues Away'' (with Josh Teskey) , , Best Blues & Roots Album , , ,

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. ! , - ,

, Josh Teskey and Ash Grunwald , Best Blues Act , , , -

References

External links

MBAS Blues Music Awards

Grunwald's Official website

Interview with Ash Grunwald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunwald, Ash 1976 births Living people APRA Award winners Australian blues musicians Australian harmonica players