MUSIC: Andrew Fromm (March Issue)

If you ever want to see the “creatives” of Williamson County, you can always find some in downtown Franklin in one of the local coffee shops.  They’re meeting with others in their field or sitting with their MacBook’s open, working on their latest song, story, or whatever else they are creating.  One of those “creatives” that I run into from time to time, while getting my “venti iced non-fat white chocolate mocha no whip” (in case anyone ever needs to know), is Andrew Fromm.  Andrew is a songwriter that was introduced to me a few years ago through a mutual friend. If you’re like me, when you think of a songwriter in Nashville, bar lights, open mic nights and the hopes of a cut on the next Lady A album comes to mind.  However, Andrew does not fit that mold.  He’s a Jersey boy that already found success before coming to Music City.  I’d like to say he got his big break one night in New York, but “big break” doesn’t seem to define what happened.  It should be more like his “ginormous life changing experience.”  He sang a song he wrote called “I Need You Tonight” at a birthday party for a friend.  A lot of industry executives were there, including the Senior Director of A&R for Jive Records.  He told Andrew he wanted his song for a band called The Backstreet Boys, unknown in the U.S. at the time.  This lead into Andrew’s first cut being on The Backstreet Boys’ Millennium album that sold 25 million copies.  See how “big break” just doesn’t seem to fit?

Since that night in New York, Andrew has had an amazing career.  In addition to The Backstreet Boys, he’s written songs for NSYNC, Selena Gomez, Marc Anthony, Jesse McCartney and many, many more.  He won the Pop Contemporary Song of the Year at the 42nd Annual Dove Awards for the #1 single “Beautiful, Beautiful” performed by Francesca Battistelli.  Several of his songs have appeared on some of the “Wow Hits” albums and the list goes on…

Andrew has perfected his craft through his writing style that he calls “ the channeling effect”.  This is where the sound of the chord inspires him to want to sing something over the top of it, like a natural occurrence.  He says he just knows what the music is supposed to do.  With no pre-meditation, he can just sit down and write a song.  I’ve seen him do it and it looks as easy for him as breathing.

Andrew says he loves to see the reactions of people and how songs that he has written have affected their lives.  A girl once wrote to him and said her boyfriend got killed by a drunk driver.  The night before he died he sang “I Need You Tonight” in her ear.  This is a memory she will always have and a reminder to Andrew of what a special gift songwriting can be.  He says songs leave “little stamps on life.”

Recently, a lot of Andrew’s focus has been on the business side of music.  He says he likes how this allows him to use both sides of his brain.  Through Fromm Consulting LLC, he has brokered millions and millions of sales of music publishing catalogs all over the world, including the sale of producer Timbaland’s catalog (Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Britney Spears, Aaliyah etc..).  His music business ventures continue to grow, but he says he will always continue to write.

Andrew has been a Franklin resident for six and a half years.  He says he moved from the New York Music scene to Nashville because it’s more structured and has a “9 to 5” mentality.  It’s also more conducive to having a family.  Now with a beautiful wife and baby boy, he definitely made the right decision to come down south and we’re glad to have him!