Ash Grunwald

Ash Grunwald (born Ashley Mark Groenewald, 5 September 1976) is an Australian blues musician. He has released nine studio albums and has received five nominations for ARIA Music Awards. Five albums have charted in the ARIA Albums Chart top 50; Fish out of Water, Hot Mama Vibes (2010), Trouble's Door (2012), Gargantua (2013) and Mojo (2019).

Career 1976–2001: Early years and early bands Under the guidance of his grandfather, Ash learned to play guitar and bass as a young child and together they recorded his first ever song – a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Going Down Slow". Grunwald began listening to the blues shows on Melbourne's community radio stations as a teenager. By his early 20s, Grunwald had been in and out of several bands including the Blue Grunwalds and the Groove Catalysts, as well as playing in a couple of duos. released the album Groove Cave, which generated some local interest. The Groove Catalysts played a number of blues venues in Melbourne and at several festivals throughout 2001 and 2002.

Grunwald was trained as a secondary school teacher, which he left at age 26.

2002–2005: Career beginnings with Head Records – Introducing Ash Grunwald, I Don't Believe and Live at the Corner Grunwald drew attention as a solo artist with the release of his debut studio album, Introducing Ash Grunwald,

In 2004, released his follow up album I Don't Believe, and the Victorian Blues award for 'Male Vocalist of the Year' (equal with Lloyd Spiegel) and in 2005 the MBAS Vic / Tas award for Solo / Duo of the Year (equal with Dave Hogan).

In June 2004, Grunwald recorded Live at the Corner, an album of songs from his first two releases. Grunwald won the 2005 MBAS Vic / Tas and Australian Blues awards Album of the Year in addition to being nominated once again for the 'Best Blues And Roots album' at the 2005 ARIA Awards. The new album was greeted with positive reviews with many of the critics saying it is one of the best blues/roots albums of the year. Several tracks gained significant airplay on the national youth broadcaster Triple J some of these included "Breakout", "Devil Called Me a Liar" and "Joke on Me". Grunwald appeared for the first time in a Triple J Hottest 100 with one entry in the 2008 countdown, with "Breakout" reaching number 50. Fish Out of Water was nominated 'Best Blues and Roots Album' at the 2009 ARIA Awards, Grunwald's fourth in this category.

2010–2018: Hot Mama Vibes, Trouble's Door, Gargantua and Now

Grunwald's fifth studio album, Hot Mama Vibes was released 4 June 2010. The Album featured contributions from Mr Trials, Countbounce, Chasm, Fingers Malone, Benny Owen and Kanchana Karunaratna. Grunwald said "Mixing electronica with the blues was always a dream of mine. On the first album I was really trying to strip it back to raw elements, just be as soulful as possible. I guess every album since then has been a gradual move towards this point." Hot Mama Vibes was nominated 'Best Blues and Roots Album' at the 2010 ARIA Awards.

In June 2019, Grunwald released "Whispering Voice" with Kasey Chambers, the lead single from Grunwald's ninth studio album Mojo. Mojo was released in August 2019 and peaked at number 40 on the ARIA Charts. Mojo was produced by Brian Brinkerhoff, Carla Olson and Ash.

Also in August 2019, Grunwald published his first book Surf by Day, Jam by Night. In the book, Grunwald interviews 15 of the world's top surfer-musicians; including Kelly Slater, Stephanie Gilmore, Jack Johnson, Dave Rastovich, Pete Murray, G. Love and many more. It was published by Pantera Press on 19 August 2019.

In August 2020, Grunwald released his first greatest hits compilation, a 30-track album, titled Anthology 2002–2020.

On 23 August, Josh Teskey and Ash Grunwald premiered the song "Thinking 'Bout Myself" on ABC's The Sound. The song is the lead single from their collaborative album, Push the Blues Away, released on 13 November 2020.

Grunwald released Shout Into the Noise in March 2022.

Discography Studio albums +List of studio albums, with release date, label, and selected chart positions shown Title Album details Peak chart positions AUS Introducing Ash Grunwald Released: August 2002 Label: Black Market Music Format: CD, digital download — I Don't Believe Released: 5 April 2004 Label: Head (HEAD047) Format: CD, digital download — Give Signs Released: 28 August 2006 Label: Delta Groove (DG04) Format: CD+DVD, digital download 84 Fish Out of Water Released: August 2008 Label: Delta Groove (DG06) Format: CD, LP, digital download 43 Hot Mama Vibes Released: 4 June 2010 Label: Delta Groove (DG09) Format: CD, LP, digital download 31 Trouble's Door Released: 11 May 2012 Label: Delta Groove, Shock (DG10) Format: CD, LP, digital download 29 Gargantua Released: 28 June 2013 Label: Delta Groove, Shock (DG11) Format: CD, LP, digital download 46 Now Released: 25 September 2015 Label: Delta Groove, Shock (DG12) Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming 52 Mojo Released: 30 August 2019 Label: Bloodlines (BLOOD53) Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming 40 Push the Blues Away Released: 13 November 2020 Label: Ivy League (IVY582) Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming 8 Shout Into the Noise Released: 11 March 2022 Label: Bloodlines (BLOOD95) Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming — Bluesfest Studio Sessions Released: 17 November 2023 Label: Delta Groove (DGREC001) Format: CD, digital download, streaming —

Live albums +List of live albums, with release date and label shown Title Details Live at the Corner Released: 7 February 2005 Label: Head Records (HEAD051) Format: CD, digital download Live from the Factory Released: 2008 Label: Delta Groove (DG05) Format: CD, digital download Live at the Fly by Night Released: February 2010 Label: Delta Groove (DG07) Format: CD, digital download

Compilation albums + List of compilation albums, with release date and label shown Title Details Anthology 2002–2020 Released: 11 August 2020 Label: Bloodlines Format: Digital download, streaming