“i’m finally feeling like i’m right where i’m supposed to be”

says Teddy Grossman, and the forthright, ever-soulful singer-songwriter speaks like a man who has been down many paths, only to arrive back definitively where he’s forever belonged. That’s because after a decade of his own music career playing second fiddle to the life of a traveling salesman, Grossman picked up everything and moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded his anticipated full-length solo debut, Soon Come.

The result is a refreshingly honest, Americana-Soul classic, calling to mind Grossman’s heros:  the soulful roots of The Band, vocal stylings of Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, and the simplicity and charm of Bill Withers and John Prine. Adds Grossman, a palpable determination and resolve in his voice: “I need to be able to look back at my life and say I gave it a real go.”  This steady perseverance goes a long way in explaining why the multi-talented artist has finally arrived at this moment, his moment, which comes pouring forth via his cerebral and sublimely centered songs— the sort that speak to years of hard-won wisdom and, well, maybe a bit of luck.

Grossman has come out of the gates swinging: fresh off opening two sold out shows in London for Mavis Staples at famed Union Chapel, as well as several dates with Van Morrison, Grossman’s debut Soon Come has racked up over 2.5 million streams, with lead single Leave it on the Line and other tracks landing on premiere playlists like Mellow Morning, Retro Soul, and Morning Commute, and Apple Music playlists’ Acoustic Chill, Long Walk, Smooth Easy, Breaking R&B and New in R&B. What I Owe has garnered praise from New Commute & Uproxx - Indie Mixtape Best New Music, and American Songwriter hails single Power in Pain is “a song, for now, tomorrow, and the years to come”. 

Album highlight “What I Owe” — an indie-folk anthem that arrived in a flash during the rich and inspired Soon Come recording sessions, lyrically encapsulates the journey he’s been on… and one that’s still ongoing. “I’ll take my time/Wait my place in line/To make it shine like gold/till I pay down what I owe,” he sings on the hook, and there’s the sense that the musician has made amends with himself for all those years he waited to get right here: “Grateful for LA starting to feel like home, for making the record i’ve always dreamed of making - with a lot more songs to chase down.”

- Dan Hyman