Grizfolk

Combining pop, folk, and electronics into a global sound all their own, Grizfolk are a five-piece ensemble formed by a pair of Swedish producers and a singer/songwriter from Florida who came together to pursue a fresh musical vision. Adam Roth, the group's vocalist and guitarist, relocated to Los Angeles from his native Florida to seek a career in music, and by 2011 he was gigging regularly in a band called La Vie featuring drummer Bill Delia. On the side, Roth was working with a music production house, helping to write and arrange material on commission, and there he met Fredrik Eriksson, a producer from Sweden who had recently pulled up stakes and moved to Southern California. Roth and Eriksson soon teamed up to write songs for a project, and discovered they were musically simpatico. Eriksson introduced Roth to Sebastian Fritze, a fellow Swede making music in America, and in 2013 the three joined forces to form a band that would combine Roth's love of Americana with Eriksson and Fritze's savvy with electronic pop. The group was originally called Griz Adams (after Grizzly Adams, a rugged outdoorsman in a popular American television series of the '70s), but in time the name was shortened to Grizfolk. Expanding to a quintet with the addition of Brendan Willing James on guitar and vocals and Roth's old bandmate Bill Delia on drums, Grizfolk landed their first break when the song "Vagabonds," featuring a guest appearance by Nikola Bedingfield, began getting airplay in the Los Angeles market after being released as part of a digital-only EP, Indian Summer. Soon Virgin Records signed the group to a deal; Grizfolk's first single for Virgin, "The Struggle," appeared in December 2013, and a four-song EP, From the Spark, followed in March 2014. Grizfolk also got a major career boost when their song "Way Back When" was used as part of the soundtrack to the hit animated film Mr. Peabody and Sherman.