RUN DOWNHILL is the brainchild of multi-Grammy® Award-winning artist T.J. Troy, a Los Angeles-based musician/writer/producer, and is the blend of his original music, comic book art and narrative, and multimedia live performance. Run Downhill has released 5 albums, 4 accompanying comic books, the first-of-its-kind augmented reality postcard EP The Lord, the Lady, and I, and the revolutionary SPURS #1 motion comic, an official selection at the Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival (STIFF 2015). Their 2015 release SPURS #2.2/Midnight Road Trip has been called “...one of the best albums that you will come across in a very long time.” (Sheila Hopper, Band Blurb). Moody, austere, and timely, the result is broad, lush harmonies, deliciously sonorous melodies, and rich textures reminiscent of the California spirit, albeit of times long gone.

The new album, entitled Nineteen/Twenty, presents the artist coming into his own: 10 original songs, each penned in a single day, represent T.J.'s most ambitious undertaking to date, having written, produced, performed, recorded and mixed the entire album himself, a true solo effort. A short list of guest artists slowly intermingle across the songs, joining T.J. for a tune or two, and a healthy mix of instrumental and vocal-driven songs populate the album’s track list.

Keeping with T.J.’s tradition of mixing mediums, he is joined by surrealist comic artist CGhirardo, contributing to Run Downhill’s established format combining music and comic book narrative concepts into a single performance medium; this video-based format, available on YouTube and Rumble, has become a hallmark feature of the band’s live performances, where each “Song Comic” video is projected next to the band, creating a visual narrative alongside the band’s densely cinematic tunes. Ghirardo’s art bends and blurs between fictional realities, and present the perfect counterpoint to this collection of Run Downhill songs, far and away the most personal and introspective songs the band has released.

“I call this a ‘stream of consciousness’ album,” says T.J., referring to his practice of penning each individual song in one day; “The recording of the album took several months to nail it down, but each song was written and completed in one day, with only a handful of revisions made to their final versions,” he says, referring to the songwriter collective known as “Song A Day For A Month” (SADFAM), of which he is a member.

The complete album hits airwaves on July 18, 2022 alongside each song’s video comic component viewable on YouTube, Rumble and other video platforms; additionally, a special 2-CD Collected Volume combining the full 10-song album plus the “Something Will Come of This” maxi-single, comes available on July 18 for those listeners still engaged with the physical format of CDs, and can be ordered directly from the band’s website, rundownhillmusic.com.

T.J. is one of the most accomplished world and classical percussionists of his generation; when not touring, recording, or performing live onstage with his various long-term collaborators or with his own groups, T.J. conducts masterclasses, creates online percussion video works, and his original compositions have garnered international acclaim, earning the Gaia Award from the Moondance International Film Festival (2005), alongside two Grammy® Awards and numerous nominations. His comic/fiction writing has appeared in The Comic Jam, Lollipop Magazine, Nuvein Magazine, Crimson Feet, and numerous independent comic works.