Road Case (Ammo Box) — 21st Annual Woody Guthrie Festival, 2018

Woodyfest 2018: This Frontier Needs Heroes

Brad Lauretti

Periptetic Peoples’ Poet Performs at Pub

Brad Lauretti [Sidenote: Part twenty-four of our Woodyfest 2018 cov­er­age puts the spot­light on This Frontier Needs Heroes front­man Brad Lauretti.] has been wan­der­ing. Originally from Brooklyn, then based in Florida, [Sidenote: Lauretti was based in Jacksonville, where he founded the Stetson Kennedy Songwriter Residency. A part­ner­ship with the Stetson Kennedy Foundation, St. Johns County Parks and Recreation Department, and Jacksonville Songwriters Residency, the pro­gram counts as alum­nus Woodyfest reg­u­lar Tim Easton.] now call­ing Nashville home, Lauretti rarely sleeps in his own bed. The front­man for This Frontier Needs Heroes tours con­stantly: in the last three years he’s played 226 shows, rang­ing from one end of the con­ti­nen­tal United States to the other along with much of west­ern Europe. The venues range in size from small dive bars to mid-sized clubs to fes­ti­val stages.

No mat­ter the room size, Lauretti always brings a mix of exis­ten­tial iso­la­tion and earnest indig­na­tion at the world’s injus­tices. If you’re wor­ried that’s too “sad sack” for your patience, the lyrics often give a gen­tly comic rib­bing to the nar­ra­tor as he acknowl­edges his own foibles. Be on the look­out for audi­ence favorites George Clooney and “Lonely Swedish Girl.”

This Frontier Needs Heroes — “Lonely Swedish Girl” /​/​ Gothenburg Sessions #127

Originally a duo with Lauretti’s sis­ter Jessica, This Frontier Needs Heroes has always fea­tured a rotat­ing crew of sup­port­ing musi­cians. The band mem­bers are spread out across the U.S., so most shows are just Lauretti him­self, with full-band treat­ment of his mate­r­ial mostly rel­e­gated to record­ing sessions.

Speaking of record­ings, This Frontier Needs Heroes has released four full-length albums, most recently 2016’s Real Job. For fanat­ics, there’s also a 2014 CD sin­gle and a very lim­ited edi­tion 2012 vinyl sin­gle. Good luck track­ing that last one down.

Lauretti opened fes­ti­val Saturday with a solo set at Lou’s Rocky Road Tavern.

Gallery: This Frontier Needs Heroes

Gallery

About Chris J. Zähller

International Man of Mystery. Cocktail Nerd. Occasionally designs websites. Sometimes snaps a picture or two.

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