Mitchell Froom
| Mitchell Froom | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 29, 1953 |
| Origin | United States |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, musician, and composer |
| Instruments | Keyboard |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Kontextrecords |
| Notable instruments | |
| Piano | |
Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer.
Career
Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboard players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar. He also played keyboards on the Ronnie Montrose-led group Gamma's third album Gamma 3 as well as both late 70s solo albums by David LaFlamme, White Bird and Inside Out.
He produced the first three Crowded House albums, which led to more production jobs with Richard Thompson, Los Lobos, American Music Club, and Suzanne Vega. One early notable work, Key of Cool, later became the soundtrack for the adult film, Café Flesh.
In 1987 he produced and wrote incidental music for the L.A.-noir "Slam Dance".
Between 1992 and 2002 Froom formed a full-time partnership with engineer Tchad Blake. Production credits include albums from American Music Club, Stevie Ann, Tasmin Archer, The Bangles, Peter Case, The Corrs, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Crowded House, The Ditty Bops, Tim Finn, Missy Higgins, Indigo Girls, Los Lobos, Paul McCartney, Robin Gibb, Maria McKee, Pat McLaughlin, Randy Newman, Nerina Pallot, Pearl Jam, Phantom Planet, Bonnie Pink, Daniel Powter, Bonnie Raitt, Ron Sexsmith, The Del Fuegos, Richard Thompson, and Suzanne Vega. Froom and Blake joined with David Hidalgo and Louie Perez of Los Lobos to form the experimental roots collaboration Latin Playboys.
Froom has produced over 60 albums[1] and has composed and produced music for numerous films.[2] He has been nominated for several Grammys including for Record of the Year for La Bamba by Los Lobos (1988) and Producer of the Year in 1993 for both Kiko by Los Lobos and 99.9F° by Suzanne Vega.[3] He was also nominated for the 1998 Golden Globe Award and the 1999 Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for co-writing with Sheryl Crow the James Bond movie title song "Tomorrow Never Dies".[4]
As a musician, Froom has released two solo albums, Dopamine (1998) and A Thousand Days (2005). The song "Noodletown" from "Dopamine" won an Emmy when it was used as the theme for PBS' Sessions at West 54th.[5]
Froom was a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[6]
Personal life
His daughter Charlotte (born 1986) is the former bassist in The Like. Charlotte's mother, Connie Jester, was his first wife.
Froom married Suzanne Vega in 1995; they separated in 1998. Soul Coughing's 1994 album, Ruby Vroom, was named after their daughter, Ruby Froom (born July 8, 1994).
He married Vonda Shepard in 2004. They had their first child, Jack Froom, (named for Froom's late father, a noted physician and educator), on April 15, 2006.
His brother is David Froom, a classical composer and Department Chair of the Music Department at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Froom is of Romanian ancestry.[7]
References
- ↑ Kontextrecords
- ↑ IMDB Mitchell Froom
- ↑ Rock on the Net 1993 Grammys
- ↑ Rock on the Net 1999 Grammys
- ↑ Damn Fine Day
- ↑ Independent Music Awards – Past Judges
- ↑ Vonda Shepard "My husband's grandparents are Romanians", happyhour.protv.ro, 2009-02-16 (in Romanian).