Montreal tunesmith extraordinaire Jimmy Goodrich, purveyor of gorgeous melody and raw lyric, has for more than 10 years been dropping a trail of astonishing performances and superb recordings from one end of the globe to the other. While coloured by influences as disparate as Chet Baker, Kate Bush, Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley, the music of Jimmy Goodrich nevertheless defies all comparisons or flavours of the day and remains uniquely his own. Perhaps the J.D. Salinger of the music world, Goodrich has been quietly creating in the shadows of heartache, whimsy and wanderlust, emerging once in a while to state his musical case before vanishing wordlessly into the ether.
After wandering, writing, recording and performing from Montreal to New York to Paris to Kashmir, along the way befriending and occaisionally collaborating with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, the Be Good Tanyas, and members of Portishead and the Scissor Sisters, Jimmy Goodrich in 2003 finally settled in Bristol, England. He immediately set about winning over local music fans and press - Appearing on HTV's 'Earshot' program, Star FM's 'Bristol Uncovered', Radio Caroline, and BBC, raved about by Venue, Bristol Evening Post and Hole magazines, flooring audiences at Ashton Court Festival as well as The Louisiana, The Cube Cinema, The Folk House, and many a Nina Simone, Chet Baker and Serge Gainsbourg tribute night.... In various guises, Jimmy Goodrich has also opened for Rufus Wainwright, Amy Winehouse, The Dears, The Be Good Tanyas, Martha Wainwright and Morningstar.....
Since 2003 Goodrich has produced two EP's: "Abandoned Dog", produced by Scissor Sister's keyboard wizard John Garden and engineered by Portishead's Jim Barr, was promised by Venue magazine to "have your 'play' button beg you to stop abusing it". Sweeping rhodes organ and wild vocal glissandos give these four songs, including the title track, 'Abandoned Dog', an epic quality mixed with dark and desperate lyrical undertones.
Completed in June of 2005 and produced by Bristol maverick Alex Cole, Jimmy's new EP, 'Sing High, Sing Low', shows more lush instrumental arrangements as well as more melancholic lyrical sensibilities with songs that would stand up on their own as skilled poetry. Featuring vocals that one reviewer described as a 'balm', this is among his best work.The latest track, 'Suffer', posted exclusively on Myspace, is a re-working of the Andrews Sister's classic from the 40's, "You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer Until You Fall In Love". The melody and arrangement has been completely re-interpreted, with decidedly cinematic production as well as additional lyrics by Goodrich himself.Jimmy Goodrich has recently joined his favourite bristol band The Jukes, fronted by the inimitable Tammy Payne. He is playing bass and singing and will join them at the folk house on 23rd February
