Over the past decade, Freedy
Johnston has quietly emerged as one of the most significant
songwriters of our generation. His 1990 debut on Hoboken's
Bar None Records,
The Trouble Tree,
got a warm reception from those lucky enough to discover it,
especially in Holland, where it spawned a hit single.
His second album, 1992's Can You Fly, was
one of that year's most critically-acclaimed, showing up on year-end
best-of lists from coast-to-coast, including Spin, Billboard,
People, Musician and The New York Times.
This Perfect World, Johnston's 1994 Elektra debut,
was another big step forward. A lush
Butch Vig Production that extended his unbroken streak
of critical praise, featured his first U.S. hit, "Bad Reputation."
Rolling Stone named Freedy their songwriter for the
year and declaired, in a four-star review, that "Freedy has
joined the elite cadre of songwriters — Bob Dylan,
Neil Young, Elvis Costello — whose brilliant pop compositions
turn magical with the addition of a defiantly, idiosyncratic
singing voice."
In 1997, Freedy turned up the volume with
the acclaimed Never Home, highlighted by the rock hit, "On
the Way Out." All the while, Freedy toured with such artists
as Sheryl Crowe,
Shawn Colvin,
Soul Asylum,
The
Lemonheads,
Matthew Sweet
and
Cowboy Junkies, among others.
On Blue Days, Black Nights, Freedy turns
the volume back down again, delicate melodies and gentle
arrangements recorded almost entirely live in the studio.
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CD Releases Include:
Unlucky
Trouble Tree
Can You Fly
This Perfect World
Never Home
Right Between the Promises
Blue Days, Black Nights
Live At 33 and 1/3
The Way I Were
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Released: August 2001
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Released: March 1999
"These uniformly downbeat songs
are gorgeously orchestrated, with a smooth, late-night
sound courtesy of producers
T-Bone Burnett and Roger Moutentot. Gone is the frisky playfulness of the singer's
early radio hits "Bad Reputation" and "On The Way
Out." Johnston's romantic troubles make for an emotionally
wrenching listen, but his darkest hour shines bright."
- Preview
Buy
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Other Reviews:
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CDNOW - 07.16.99
•
CMJ
- New Music Review
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CMJ
- New Music Review
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Released: November 1997
"With his focus on guitar primacy,
engaging storytelling and lasting melodies, Freedy
Johnston is a first class American singer/songwriter.
He's also an indefatigable craftsman who shows a perfectionist's
attention to detail, but Johnston's magic is seldom
clinical, and Never Home is a dynamic successor to
1994's This Perfect World."
- No Depression
Buy>>
Other Reviews:
•
CDNOW
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CDNOW - 02.25.97
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Rolling Stone
•
CMJ - New Music Review
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CMJ - New Music Review
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Music Monitor
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Released: June 1996
"Freedy Johnston's rangy croon and
subtly detailed songs put him in that small cadre
of singer/songwriters- Elvis Costello, John Hiatt,
and Jim Lauderdale, among others — whose insights
ring with clarity, wisdom, and humor, Johnston can
wrangle you in with the perfect lyric or resounding
chorus, while his melodies recall the glory years
of folk pop."
Buy>>
•
CDNOW - 06.01.95
•
CMJ - New Music Review
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Released: June 1996
Blessed with a ready, but distinctive
and expressive voice, Freedy Johnston has become a
folk sensation since Can You Fly was released a year
ago.
A Kansas native, who convincingly sings about the
pain of having sold his grandfather's farm in order
to pay for studio time for his band, Johnston is a
sharp-eyed, emotional songwriter who, as he notes
in one song, "Sings what he can't say."
Possessing a witty and original gift with words, he
does a marvelous job of capturing innocent, youthful
love, the stirrings of small town restlessness, and
bitter and broken relationships.
The Unlucky collection of six tracks contains two
versions of one number that appears on Can You Fly.
There's also a very catchy pop-tune, "Caroline," and
a version of "Wichita Lineman."
Ed Silverman
Dirty Linen
April 1, 1994
Buy>>
• Puncture - 03.01.93
• CMJ - NMR
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