freedy and coffee

Sunday morning, woke up early, 6:30 am with a song playing in my head and looking at the clock with wonder and disdain. Why is it that I can go to bed at midnight on a Saturday night and be wide awake early Sunday morning? If I tried to pull that shit on a Tuesday, I'd wake up a grumpy mofo.

Anyway, the song was "Underwater Life" by Freedy Johnston. This is a guy I've sort of followed since '94, when the incredible "This Perfect World" cd came out, and "Bad Reputation" became firmly planted on my "Favorite Songs of All Time" list.

So as I'm just lying there just staring at the ceiling fan, I decided to pick up the Droid and re-affiliate myself with his stuff on Rhapsody.

Now, as rabid a music fan as I am, the one thing I truly cannot do is succinctly summarize a musician or a band — I've never been able to work in those terms like a decent critic can do. I can only tell you if I like it, and maybe even why.

Freedy Johnston is a singer-songwriter who's always been loved by the critics and hardcore fans, yet never been a success in a "moving units" context. "Bad Reputation" was his one true hit, in the same way that "Walking In Memphis" is the one song that Marc Cohn is widely known for.

He's someone that I think I appreciate more now that I'm in my forties, the kind of music I can close my eyes and imagine myself in a modern-ish condo in Chicago or a coffee shop in downtown Nashville. Maybe that's because Freedy himself is from podunk Kansas, but moved to NYC at an early age. His style suggests that comfortable middle Americana, but there's a sophistication that suggests more substance than "Aw shucks", more world-wise and refined than down home.

I also read a really great review of an intimate show he did recently in Boston, where the reviewer talks about being one of twenty-or-so people to see Freedy play in this large performance arts-type space. As a music geek, I can relate to having someone who plays music that you connect with on a deeper level, and then the thrill of seeing them up close and personal, and feeling like that small few that are there with you are sharing a secret that only those of you know about.

In any case, he expresses it much better than I, so it's a good read even if you don't know Freedy Johnston's music.

Excerpt:

"It was a tough night forFreedy Johnston. But it had nothing to do with the fact that only about 20 people had come to the Center for the Arts at the Armory in Somerville for his scarcely publicized show. And it wasn’t just because his guitar bit the dust earlier that day. Rather, he was frustrated because he could not properly tune the guitar he borrowed from opening act Mike Fiore to play the title track from his forthcoming, long-awaited album, “Rain in the City.” ...

The rest can be found at "Concert Review: Freedy Johnston" at safedigression.wordpress.com

I hope you check out his music when you get the chance.

I hope you get the same thrill I get.

- Freedy Johnston at Wikipedia

- Freedy Johnston on Myspace