Two years in the making, the new retro-hued R&B/funk album from the singer-musician boasts a who’s who lineup of Michigan talent. Frisinger’s band plays shows Thursday and Friday in Grand Haven.
By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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Andy Frisinger has the heart – and lungs – of a soul man.
Raised on the invigorating R&B of The Commodores, Michael Jackson, Sly & The Family Stone and George Benson, the Grand Haven singer and saxophonist has oozed funk and dance-hued music since fronting a band dubbed Planet Vinyl as a college student in Wisconsin.
“That’s what was played around my house, so that’s what I fell in love with,” Frisinger says. “That’s kind of what I go back to with my writing style. I just love the way music was written back then. … That’s just what catches my ear I guess.”
Now 36, Frisinger recently released his debut solo album, “Not Quite Alone,” rife with vintage R&B tracks featuring a host of mega-talented area musicians, including drummer Scott Pellegrom, keyboard player Paul Lesinski, guitarists Michael Drost, Chris Wiser, Joe Sturgill and Kevin Kozel, and many more. He dubs it a “Pure Michigan” collection of musicians.
“I only want to play with the best players,” he says forthrightly.
Consequently, the saxophonist constantly juggles a rotation of in-demand musicians to fill out his band for live performances, working around their busy gigging schedules as well as his own.
“I spend all day on organizational stuff,” say Frisinger, who also performs regularly with Lesinski and drummer Tim Johnson in a jazz trio.
On Wednesday, Wiser accompanied Frisinger in the studios of News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW), performing a rare acoustic duo rendition of the track “Truth” from the new album. Listen to the entire podcast of the Local Spins Live show here and watch a video of the duo’s performance below.
Frisinger’s musical journey – which started with his first paying gig as a high school sophomore – has taken a fair number of turns and led him across the country before landing in Grand Haven about five years ago.
Born in Eau Claire, Wis., he attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and spent five months at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston before the high cost of the school forced him to drop out. He moved to Los Angeles for several years to pursue his music career, but eventually moved back to the Midwest to be near family members, who had relocated to Kalamazoo.
TWO YEARS OF WORK ON HIS DEBUT ALBUM
Along the way, Frisinger, who cites saxophonist Michael Brecker as his hero, has shared stages with The Temptations, The Supremes’ Mary Wilson, jazz musicians Arturo Sanduval, Slide Hampton and Ed Calle, and Prince’s former back-up band, New Power Generation.
But he’s mostly worked to get his own music in front of fans, spending two years hammering out his debut solo album, recorded in his Grand Haven apartment studio and at Redwall North studios.
“I recorded three-quarters of it in my apartment and did the rest at Redwall,” he says. “While I was writing the demos, I was trying to get it into my head who would be best (to play on each song) based on their strengths.”
Ultimately, nearly 20 musicians participated in the 11-track project.
“Andy’s just got a great way of capturing his influences and his music,” Wiser offers. “I see bits of R&B and bits of blues and bits of rock and bits of even hip hop in some of the rhythms that he captures. It’s unlike any songwriter that I’m familiar with, particularly in this area. It really has a nice unique sound to it.”
Frisinger’s five-piece band brings that sound to Joe’s Wooden Nickel, 100 Washington Ave., in Grand Haven every Thursday starting at 9 p.m. And with the Coast Guard Festival ramping up in the lakeshore community this weekend, the band also plays Odd Side Ales, 41 Washington Ave., at 9 p.m. Friday.
“We do some dance music and we do some original music. We kind of mix it up,” say Frisinger, who loves seeing people out on the dance floor during his band’s gigs. “That’s what makes me happy. When I see people enjoying it, dancing, yelling for more, that’s what does it for me.”
As for Friday’s show at the intimate Odd Side Ales: “We’re going to turn Odd Side Ales into Studio 54 on Friday night. It’s’ going to get nuts. Bring your goat.”
For more information about Frisinger and his band schedule and to listen to samples of his music, visit andyfrisinger.com or check out his Facebook page. His album also is available via iTunes and CDBaby.com.
Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music