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World, meet your next big star. With characters like John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Rocco DeLuca, Matt Costa and Mat Kearney, this is the Golden Age for acoustic/rock/pop music. And in Josh Fix we have yet another ultra-talented, ultra-passionate rising star in a genre where there is always room for new talent. His debut Free At Last is going to be a staple of my rotation for awhile and I am already eagerly awaiting more from this amazingly fresh new artist.

Fix is your average singer/songwriter, except for the fact that he plays nearly every instrument on his debut – drums being the exception – and that he also produced every song himself. He was actually seen in the studio with big names in the business stemming from the popularity he gained after landing a spot opening for The Who in 2004, but the man who wrote his own symphony in college opted to go the solo route on the entire album, ensuring that no outside factors could influence his musical voice on this debut. So in essence, the album is all Fix. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. If you are as talented as Fix is, then you don’t need as much input from the outside. He knows where he is going with his music, and his message comes through clearly throughout the record.

Don’t Call Me in the Morning is a great first single from the album, as it is upbeat and has a little bit of what is in every song on the record: amazing piano, amazingly poetic and fun lyrics, and a simple, clear message. This is the first debut album that I’ve heard in a long time that doesn’t have multiple weak tracks. I see potential hit after potential hit on here, ranging from the wacky, upbeat Jethro to the slowed down Free at Last to the insanely great Tiger on a Treadmill.

The only problem I have with this record is one that I have with ninety-nine percent of debuts. The songs seem to be more of a compilation of his best so far and not necessarily a comprehensive whole. But that is both good and bad. It’s good because there is a lot of versatility and you can see his entire palate; it’s bad because the songs seem to be everywhere and a lot of them end up sounding the same. An artist experiences more growth from the debut to the sophomore album than at any other time in their career.

Even though I don’t see how a debut album could be aptly named Free at Last, it seems to make sense after reading about Fix’s turbulent past, as he has worked in locales ranging from an oil rig to a strip club (his actual job there, however, was not specified, leading one to ponder the possibilities). Overall, however, this is a great CD. It’s definitely one that I’d buy – maybe even pay double for – and the South Africa-born Fix is an artist to watch out for.