Rising Stars: Meet Teddy Grossman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Teddy Grossman.

Hi Teddy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up outside Philadelphia and was lucky enough to be raised by loving parents with a killer taste in music. Beatles, Stevie Wonder, John Prine…. all by elementary school! My first love was the trumpet, which eventually gave way to teaching myself guitar on a beat up acoustic my grandfather gave to my older sister. By high school I started to try my hand at writing songs…. they were bad. I went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where I started my first band. By the time I graduated we’d been touring the Midwest and east coast circuit a couple of times a year, and relocated to Chicago.

As that chapter came to a close I moved to New York City, but began spending winters in Los Angeles, feeling the gravitational pull of the thriving music community here. After one fateful evening in January 2017, when BILL WITHERS showed up to a tribute concert I was performing at in his honor, I woke up the next morning and knew it was time to move here. This summer will mark three years in LA. Since making the move, I left my job after more than a decade in the workforce, and recorded a full-length debut solo project. The first single ‘What I Owe’ was released in November, and the rest of the record will be out in early-mid 2021.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not always been smooth or straight, but I feel extremely lucky to be right here right now. The challenge has always been (and always will be) overcoming fear, with perseverance & courage. I consider that fight to be one of tremendous privilege, and one that must be waged (almost) every day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. My debut solo album, ‘Soon Come’, features songs that piled up over the last few years since leaving Chicago for New York, and eventually settling into Los Angeles. The record was produced by Ryan Pollie, and features some of LA’s most talented musicians and artists. It has been such a humbling experience getting to know and work with these people through the making of this album.

Although Soon Come has some fairly ambitious arrangements and overall production, we had the core band (Josh Teitelbaum on drums, Alex Kyhn on bass, Jason Goldstein on piano, and myself) record live to tape as the foundation of every song. I’d like to think this provided a certain warmth and vibe that is consistent throughout, in the way of so many sixties and seventies records we all love.

Sonically, it draws on my primary influences of Soul music and the Americana/Folk songwriting tradition… a la Voodoo meets Music from Big Pink. If that means anything to you, I think you’ll dig this record. 😉

What matters most to you?
What a question!! Well… over the years it has become increasingly clear that the most important work I have to do in life, in order to show up for myself and my people, is being present in the moment – b/c this is it. I don’t want to go through life living in my head all the time, arrested from all the crazy beautiful moments that this world has to offer. For so long, I’ve obsessed over my own personal story of leaving the 9-5 job to pursue my dreams, and how that defines my sense of identity. Along the way, I’ve been *trying* to remind myself that every step of the way is THE thing, and none of the most important things in life (eg. family, community, love, joy, adventure) can be fully experienced or realized without this perspective. It is of course, very much a work in progress. <3

Contact Info:

• Email: teddygrossmanmusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teddygro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teddygrossmanmusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/teddygro
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE7XuaWNrM0CuK0qPvSNfVA
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/teddy-grossman

Image Credits
Ryan Pollie (personal photo) Tanima Mehrotra (both additional photos)