Jonathan Russell Fritz, formerly known as Jonny Corndawg, is an American

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

musician who was born in Missoula, Montana. He has released four albums, two under the name "Jonny Corndawg" and two as "Jonny Fritz".

Career

In 2007, Fritz (then known as Jonny Corndawg) released his first official album, ''I’m Not Ready To Be a Daddy''. In 2010, Fritz released a 7" with Deer Tick on

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam's South B ...

, of which only 500 copies were made. He released his second album, ''Down on the Bikini Line'', on August 30, 2011 in the United States on Nasty Memories Records. In 2012, Fritz dropped the "Corndawg" from his stage name. In 2013, Fritz released '' Dad Country'', his third album overall and his first under the name "Jonny Fritz", on ATO Records. It was recorded at

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

's studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and was produced by

Taylor Goldsmith Taylor Dawes Goldsmith (born August 16, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He serves as the lead singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter of American folk rock band Dawes. Early life Goldsmith has a younger ...

Dawes Dawes may refer to: Places Australia *Dawes (Parish), New South Wales *Dawes Point, New South Wales Untied States *Dawes Arboretum, in Newark, Ohio *Dawes County, Nebraska *Dawes Township, Thurston County, Nebraska Other uses * Dawes (band), ...

. It was followed by the release of the album's single "Goodbye Summer", for which a music video was also made and directed by Sean Dunne. Jonnys' 4th record Sweet Creep was released in 2016. Produced by Jim James and recorded over three days using a makeshift outdoor studio in the Montecito Hills of California. The entire record was recorded outside and featured

Dawes (band) Dawes is an American folk rock band from Los Angeles, California, composed of brothers Taylor Goldsmith, Taylor (guitars and vocals) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums). The band has been described as being influenced by the Laurel Canyon, Los Angele ...

, playing multiple instruments, including guitar, bass, and keyboard, his brother Griffin Goldsmith on drums, Joshua Hedley of fiddle and

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Kos ...

's prolific front man

Jim James James Edward Olliges Jr. (born April 27, 1978), professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums. ...

also lending his voice, and guitar to multiple tracks.

Critical reception

''Down on the Bikini Line'' received a B− grade from both ''

the A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' and ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

''. In ''the A.V. Club'', Steven Hyden wrote that the album's songs were "faithful and tuneful genre exercises," and in ''Consequence of Sound'', Alex Young wrote that Corndawg displays "a preternatural grasp of honky-tonk, bluegrass, traditional, and outlaw country music" on the album. However, Young also said that the album's lyrics "can still sometimes be read as insulting". According to

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, ''Dad Country'' received very favorable reviews from critics. Hal Horowitz reviewed ''Dad Country'' for ''American Songwriter'' and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. In his review, Horowitz wrote that "brevity works to Fritz’s advantage" on the album and concluded that the music on ''Dad Country'' was "some of ritz'sbest". Fritz released his fourth studio album, ''Sweet Creep'', October 14, 2016. Rolling Stone named the album #14 in their 40 best country records of 2016.

Notable performances

Fritz performed at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in 2012 and 2014.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, Jonny Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American alternative country singers American country singer-songwriters ATO Records artists Singers from Montana Songwriters from Montana