Ron Fetner released his 7th studio album in 2023. “Down A Grave Road” reached #12 on the FAI/Folk DJ List/ NACC radio charts.
Ron is approaching a five-decade music career with 35 years devoted to a singer/songwriter tag. Born in the farm belt of western New York and raised in the small towns of northern Virginia, Ron's early years were spent playing guitar and saxophone in local area bands. Ron attended Boston's Berklee School of Music as an arranging and composition major before heading off on his musical travels. These included stints with several touring Washington, DC based bands, often sharing the stage with people like The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Hall and Oats, The Nighthawks, and Talking Heads, to name a few. Feeling like he had paid his dues, Ron started to concentrate more on songwriting and soon launched a performing songwriter career. Incorporating elements of Folk, Rock, Jazz and southern Appalachian, Ron found his voice in our Americana music. In 1996, Ron released 'This Box I'm Looking Through'. “The album got immediate attention and soon found the radio airways throughout the country. As Autograph Magazine stated: “There is a lot of reflection in the lyrics. Ron chases memories in 'Chevy Blue', covers cowboys and baseball in 'Fields' and displays solid writing on the title tune….”. Mike Flynn of NPR's 'The Folk Sampler' noted “...really great music...Listeners always love Ron's songs”. As an example, the title song ended up with the honor of one of the most played songs on the 35 year run of The Folk Sampler. By the time Ron’s second release “Turning For Home” hit the market, he had captured a “Kerrville NewFolk” winner award, Mid Atlantic Songwriter Contest Gold title, and a Chris Austin Song Contest finalist at Doc Watson’s Merlefest. Performances followed at venues that include Nashville’s Bluebird Café and Radio Café, Atlanta’s Eddies Attic, DC’s Bayou and festivals like South Florida, Tucson, Gamble Rogers and Falcon Ridge, to name a few. Plus, numerous stops at coffeehouses/ house concerts throughout the country, again sharing stages with folks like David Wilcox, Kate Campbell, Buddy Mondlock, John Smith, Small Potatoes, Michael Lille, and Chris Rosser.
Follow-up recordings include Defying Gravity, Sunday Morning Blue, and a nod to his rocking bluesy DC/Georgetown days with 2017’s “BlueHouse Project. Post pandemic Ron then settled back into the story song chair with the 2023 Down A Gravel Road release.
inquiries, fetsong@gmail.com
www.ronfetner.com
www.ronfetner.bandcamp.com
