Cody Fry Releases 'Symphony Sessions'

Today, singer/songwriter/composer/producer Cody Fry released his new record Symphony Sessions, featuring Fry's patented live orchestral touch, including fully arranged covers as well new and revisited originals. The whole seven-song set was arranged with a 60-piece orchestra and recorded at Ocean Way Nashville Studios, a beautiful 100-year-old gray stone church.

The recent success of Fry's 2017 song "I Hear A Symphony," which went viral on TikTok last year garnering over 75 million streams on Spotify in the process, revealed to Fry a large audience for his style of orchestral pop music that he previously did not know existed. Inspired and moved by the way people began incorporating the song into their lives, Fry decided to create Symphony Sessions, which includes a new, live version of "I Hear A Symphony."

The first track released from the record, and first since going viral, was Fry's cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," which not only exploded on TikTok on its own, but earned a GRAMMY nomination for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, Fry's first-ever nomination. The following release was a cover of Ben Rector's "Sailboat," a song which served as a joint encore on Fry and Rector's recent tour.

The album also features songs reimagined from Fry's back catalog like "Underground" from his debut album audio:cinema, "Photograph" from his 2021 album Pictures of Mountains, a new song "More Than the Day Before," and the instrumental interlude "Caves."

Fry and Symphony Sessions have been praised by MusicRadar, Atwood Magazine, American Songwriter, Parade Magazine, The Aquarian, PopWrapped, and Digital Journal among others, including Spotify who featured "More Than The Day Before" on their New Music Friday playlist.

"I've run the gamut of emotions, from confusion to thunderstruck excitement to the fear of how long will this last?" admits the Chicago-raised Fry. "This has totally changed my life. It's allowed me to say no to things I don't want to do and be able to pursue what I do."

Indeed the success of "I Hear A Symphony" earned Fry the luxury to choose his own creative path. Although major record labels came calling following his viral success, Cody decided to remain independent for the time being. "I didn't feel right about the offers," he says. "I wanted to see what I could do on my own now that I can support myself this way. Even though record companies can add tremendous value, it was too tantalizing for me to be able to make the music I wanted, without any outside interference."

Symphony Sessions is just that, and Cody hopes it can continue to open doors, with visions of taking his orchestral approach to the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, or even on a tour where he plays with local orchestras at each city. "I think the most amazing things humans do are the things that we do together in large groups," he says. "When else in music do you have 60 people in the same room all working together to make the same piece of art simultaneously? There is an energy that only happens in that setting."

All the songs were recorded live in a single day, including several of the lead vocals, with a 60-piece orchestra, including strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. "When a session is structured in this way, it doesn't leave much room for error, but luckily the musicians were incredible, and everything turned out better than I could have imagined," says Cody. "It was a stressful, nerve-wracking, joyful, rewarding experience. I hope I get to continue making more music like this."

Listen to the new album here:

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