VELVET THUNDER

Jonathan Wyndham, a Nashville based singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer whose whose music blends the grit of rock with the soul of R&B. Wyndham, a Gibson-endorsed guitarist, built his reputation touring the world and serving as musical director for Grammy-winning and Billboard chart-topping artists including Colbie Caillat and Jessie James Decker. Now stepping into the spotlight as a solo artist, Wyndham brings the same musicianship and storytelling that has carried him through over a decade of touring, studio sessions, and songwriting in Nashville. Wyndham’s music has been featured by ESPN, the NFL Network, and NBA 2K21, and his live performances showcase both fiery guitar work and heartfelt lyricism. Wyndham’s songs are the culmination of years spent chasing truth in music, crafted to resonate with both dedicated fans and fellow musicians alike.

Jonathan has now released his new album Middle Class & Infamous, a collection of songs that capture both the resilience and the raw honesty of a working musician stepping into his own. From its first track to its last, the record is a portrait of an artist choosing to stop playing it safe and start telling his own story. With him producing the record on his own and playing nearly every instrument, the album stands as an even more intimate and authentic reflection of his artistry.

Musically, Middle Class & Infamous builds on the foundation of Wyndham’s debut Nashville Rock & Soul, Vol. 1. Where that first record captured the energy of a dream live set, this new album is a refinement, a deeper vocabulary, a stripped-down clarity, and songs built to resonate whether you’re on a morning run or wrestling with heartbreak. For Wyndham, this release is more than just a record, it’s a commitment. After spending his 20’s touring with & musical directing for artists, he made the decision earlier this year to step away from those roles and invest fully in himself as an artist.

The album starts, appropriately enough, with Make A Difference. This originated from Jonathan learning that an old friend from The Voice had a simple goal for the next five years – to ‘make a difference’. Musically it’s laid back, restrained, soulful, gentle almost. A sparse but tasty rhythm keeps the number choogling along, Jonathan playing some lovely licks on top on the song’s strummed body. What’s more, he proves himself to be a mean percussionist! Hook, Line, Sinker is a pacier, purposeful affair, a full-on heavy blues-rock affair that gets the juices flowing!

What Happened To Us is the classic poignant look-back at losing a close friend, a truly impassioned vocal performance. The writer’s hurt vibrates around this song, the sparse arrangement emphasising the emotion on display. Betrayed, is a more upbeat number, a beguilingly soft, almost luscious, sort of jazz-inspired arrangement, with some simply superb lead guitar licks towards the end.

Bad at Giving up is another classic regretful “lost love” number – we’ve all been there, and Jonathan captures the essence of that feeling so well with another sparse, restrained arrangement that still packs an emotional punch. Fade continues in the same musical vein, the space between soulful notes echoing above a laid-back beat. Distant As A Dream is the third in this reflective trio of tracks, almost whispered as Jonathan bares his soul.

Second-hand Smoke is the recent single, built around an infectious riff that developed into the fully formed track within hours of a happy jam session. Jonathan apparently took the session home, wrote and tracked the melody and lyrics that night, and returned the next day to recut drums with co-conspirator Chris Kimmerer. Back at his studio, he imported the sessions, changed keys, retracked guitars, bass, and vocals, and the song was born. The track is all about the intoxicating rush of new love, a bit like the way smoke (used to) cling to your clothes after a club show, just as the thought of someone you’re drawn to refuses to leave your mind. The result is a raw, fully realized rock track.

Numb is a beautifully realised piece of introspective blues, Jonathan certainly knows how to convincingly tell a sad tale, in this case written at three in the morning after hearing a close friend had overdosed. The closing track on a set of what are often quite heart-endingly honest songs is The Last Time, written in the aftermath of losing his best friend in a car accident. This is the kind of song Wyndham wishes he never had to write. It’s certainly not the most uplifting way to finish what can be a challenging album to listen to, but the powerful emotions on display are emblematic of the man.  That truth threads through the album’s ten songs, balancing moments of grief and heartbreak with glimpses of hope and determination.

The recording process was just as intentional. Some songs were built layer by layer with trusted collaborators, while others came to life in a single take. Wyndham kept imperfections that carried honesty. “The Last Time” still includes the sound of him setting his guitar pick down at the end….