Twenty Aught Eight is an acoustic project made up
primarily of Todd Lorenz and his guitar. One would expect that the pressure
of releasing one song per week would create a barrier to strong, consistent
songwriting, but the recorded evidence is quite to the contrary. Twenty
Aught Eight V.1 and V.2 contain consistently strong songwriting and
performances from Todd Lorenz...Todd Lorenz is a unique and brave artist who
warrants further attention. The Twenty Aught Eight project
is highly recommended listening, and is as fine example of the raw creative
process as we've had the pleasure to hear here at Wildy's
World.
Wildy's World Blog
There are fifty two weeks in a year and Todd Lorenz has established a goal
to write a song in each of them for 2008, or as he has called it ‘twenty
aught eight’. Todd is a big man with a big voice and an even bigger heart. I’ve
listened to and reviewed his earlier works and enjoyed them all. While his
output is not even nearly 100% blues, it is American roots music and it is
delivered from that huge heart of his. His compositions reflect his emotions
and feelings, from pains and emotion of a lost love to the primal urges
between a man and a woman...Working to a calendar would stifle the creative
juices of most songwriters, but Lorenz seems up to the challenge...his songs
allow us to see through the window to a bygone era in music. We have some
songs that could easily be work songs sung in the field and certainly all of
the songs could be played on the front porch or before a warm fire with
family and friends, allowing them to evoke the gamut of human
feelings. Vocally, Todd has a big instrument. He has power and
enunciates the lyrics with clarity and a folky tonal quality. His finger and
thumb work on the guitar strings are excellent as is his mastery of the
slide. Whether bending a note, playing a blues riff or playing accompaniment
to a folk song, his guitar play is both precise and colorful.
Steve Jones
Crossroads Blues Society
Todd Lorenz is an acoustic artist whose music is rooted in blues and rock, and includes healthy measures of folk and bluegrass. He was born in Orange, CA and has spent most of his life in southern California, including graduating from Musician’s Institute in 1989. He then relocated to San Diego, CA where he fronted a few bands and began playing solo acoustic music with a small degree of success.
In December of 1998, he relocated to Phoenix, AZ and continued playing solo, making an impact on the local coffeehouse scene, and was the only solo act to make the finals of the Arizona Blues Showdown in 2000. In April of 2006, he moved again, buying a home near Monroe, a small town in south central WI.
Todd's most recent project is called Twenty Aught Eight, which consists of posting a new song to his web site and his myspace page every week for a year between 1/14/08 and 1/05/09. During the project, the songs can be downloaded for free from Todd's site and they will also be available for purchase on CDs. Each collection will document a quarter of a year and will have 13 songs.
Prior to Twenty Aught Eight, he released 5 CDs independently, starting with Even My Shoes got the Blues in 1999. Reflections followed in 2001 and Here I Stand debuted in 2004. In 2007, Todd released two albums simultaneously.
My Blues consists of 20 selections from his first three albums that were rerecorded in order to better serve as an introduction to his earlier work. These songs were chosen based on consistent audience reaction and also include some of Todd’s favorites.
Live, Love, Learn, Sing! is made up of 14 brand new songs that are all deeply personal with diverse subject matter than includes life, death, love, suicide, persistence, self awareness, and fate. The lyrics find a way to provoke thought in the listener, often managing to do so with a dose of humor. The music successfully blends elements of blues, folk, rock, bluegrass, and country, forming what might best be called Americana.
2009 also sees Todd’s return to what he does best - playing live music, where it continues to be his goal to move people on an emotional level, drawing on his deep, resonant voice, tasteful guitar work, and a storyteller’s knack for interacting with and entertaining his audience.
“Show me something, touch my soul. Bring a tear to my eye. Make it real; I wanna feel like I’m really alive.”
- Feel Alive, Todd Lorenz
TODD LORENZ: Live. Love. Learn. Sing.
Excellent songs from an artist striving to be at his best, featuring great vocals and guitar work.
TODD LORENZ: My Blues
Acoustic blues featuring great songs, powerful vocals and soulful guitar work.
TODD LORENZ: Here I Stand
Original acoustic music featuring emotional and deeply personal songwriting, heartfelt vocals, and passionate slide guitar.
Review for Live, Love, Learn, Sing:
I can honestly say that the CD is truly a labor of his love.
Where as My Blues explores Todd’s acoustic blues side, Live. Love. Learn.
Sing. is the fusion of blues, folk and other acoustic forms and...truly is a bit
of Americana and it is Americana at the top of its form. From the opening
“The Ballad of Papa Chuck” to the closing “Lullaby,” we see the spectrum
of Lorenz’ abilities. His folksy reflections on life, his bluesy tunes and
lyrics, and the interjection of a little fun now and then makes for an great CD.
Each original song is a reflection of it’s creator’s skills and they are all
executed flawlessly. Todd is an extremely talented artist and songwriter.
-- Steve Jones
Reviews for My Blues:
Lorenz has a deft touch on guitar and a warm, rich voice. His highly original songs (20 on this CD) deal with familiar blues themes: pain, loss, love, etc., but with a modern, and sometimes personal touch. Highlights include “Tired of Your Pain,” “Life Ain’t Easy,” “To Your Grave,” “Sundance Groove,” “Good Old Days Again,” and “Kentucky Woman.”
Lorenz is comfortable playing and singing in blues, country, folk, or any of the Americana styles. Well produced by Lorenz and featuring a variety of styles and original tunes, My Blues is a fine CD that should please acoustic guitar fans.
--- Graham Clarke
A solo recording doesn’t leave an artist anywhere to hide, especially when
you are working with original material. Lorenz is able to make it work with
ease. His slide guitar creates a solid rhythmic foundation throughout the disc,
especially on tracks like “Hush Hush” where his rapid-fire licks add to the
intensity of the performance. He has good range on the vocals and varies his
approach enough to maintain interest.
The same could be said for Todd’s songwriting. He mixes standard blues licks
with lyrics that often provide a humorous view of real life situations. This quality is very evident on “Got Her Gone”, where the woman lays down a
list of laws which Todd promptly uses as a roadmap to bring the relationship to
an end. One has to wonder about his emotional state of being when he wrote
“Even My Shoes Got the Blues”.
The best praise I can give My Blues is that, after hearing the disc, I
want to see a live performance by Lorenz.
- Mark Thompson, President - Crossroads Blues Society
Hey Todd ~ Hope you are feeling much better these days. I see you have a busy schedule ahead. No time to be sick...lol! My best to you for good health all around.
Hey Todd ~ Been a while since I have been logged on. How's things been for you? Hope all has been good. Summer has come and gone again to quick! Well anyways, you and yours have a fun and safe Halloween.
Online Now!
