Anywhere But Here by John Frank

Keep in mind that all of this occurred BEFORE May 6th 2006, the date he released his debut album Anywhere But Here to a packed house @ The Social, a premiere music venue in his current residence of Orlando, FL. So how exactly did this happen, this seemingly out of nowhere emergence of a tenacious singer/songwriter, whose army of loyal fans literally sing OVER him @ shows? Well, your guess is as good as his. “I don’t know, it just sort of happened”, says the University of Central graduate of Psychology. “I mean, I’ve always dabbled in songwriting, but I’ll be the first one to admit that none of my early material was very good.” Well like he said, something must have happened because somewhere along the way John broke through the wall of mediocrity and tapped into something that WAS very good. Already graduated and working in his field as an adolescent substance abuse counselor, John began writing some of the songs that would ultimately be recorded a couple years later. The result? Anywhere But Here, a dynamic debut album that sounds more like a sophomore effort from a veteran artist.

Best described as a cross between Morrissey and Matchbox Twenty, John’s music is lyrically driven and shamelessly hooky to the point that you end up with more than one song stuck in your head at the same time. From the bitter anthem “This Town”, to the more introspective “Victim of the Heart”, Anywhere But Here holds your attention form start to finish, a characteristic not commonly found on an debut independent release. Somehow, John has managed to walk that fine-line of creating an album that expresses individuality, while still maintaining mass appeal.

John’s live show is equally powerful. Over the last few years he has clawed his way from the trenches of the open-mic circuit to playing the premiere music venues in the area. Originally a solo-acoustic performer, John now has the support of a two-piece rhythm section. Together, the trio puts on a high-energy rock show that rivals most 5-piece bands. John explains “Even though I consider myself a solo-artist, most of the music I listened to growing up was very band oriented so I really prefer to bring that aspect to my live show.”

At the end of the day, what really makes John Frank special is that he never really thought he’d being playing music for a living. “It’s funny.” John reflects, “I remember when I wrote “Jenna” I never intended for anyone to hear it but me. Now, ironically, it’s on my first album AND I have people singing back the words to me at my shows. It’s almost surreal when I stop think about it.”

Surreal or not, John Frank is a shining example of how you never know what’s going to happen, but when it does, you damn well better take advantage of it.

Average Customer Review: 4