SINGING OAK
HOUSE CONCERTS
| home |
upcoming shows |
about us |
location |
photo archive |
| previous artists |
contact us |
Welcome Acoustic Music Lovers, |
Singing Oak House Concerts Presents Freebo and Alice Howe Monday, November 5, 2018 at 7:00 PM |
November 5 is a big day! Singing Oak House Concerts is welcoming legendary bass player and singer/songwriter Freebo, along with the rising star, Boston area singer/songwriter Alice Howe. Freebo and Alice have been performing and recording together for a few years now and have taken their musical magic around the country and abroad. This show is not to be missed!
Folk-Rock Blues Icon From world renowned bassist (Bonnie Raitt 10 years, CSN, John Mayall, Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Dr. John, Loudon Wainwright) to award winning singer/songwriter, Freebo's music touches your heart with songs of life, love, dogs, and the human condition. He is well regarded for his high level of musicality coupled with his thoughtful and powerful use of words in song lyrics as well as in prose and narrative. He has also appeared on the classic TV shows Saturday Night Live, Midnight Special, The Tonight Show, and in concert with the legendary Spinal Tap. Here’s what critics are saying about Freebo:
Freebo's latest CD, IF NOT NOW WHEN, is the culmination of Freebo’s successful transition from world-renown bass player to world-class songwriter, artist, and producer. The CD is a combination of newly written and recorded songs, interspersed with previously recorded songs, all re-sung, re-mixed, and sometimes re-orchestrated. Freebo’s revealing and poetic lyrics are beautifully supported and emotionally enhanced by the varied styles of music he has played with so many of the legends of Rock ‘N’ Roll, artfully producing his songs by focusing on his acoustic guitar and voice with tastefully augmented instrumentation, including his iconic fretless bass. A rare combination of musical sophistication and lyrical wisdom, IF NOT NOW WHEN is an inspiring, motivational, deeply revealing, and often humorous look into a kind, thoughtful, and artistic soul whose musical imprint has been memorably embedded in the last six decades of American music. IF NOT NOW WHEN begins with the self-reflective and powerful mid-tempo song, I Ain’t Runnin’ No More, a sign of the CD’s revealing look into the very personal side of Freebo’s story. Showing Freebo’s love of orchestration, the second song’s first note is that of a French horn, and it signals the beautiful repetitive three-note-motive of Standing Ovation, already a Freebo classic, rerecorded especially for this release. Funk Up The Folk, co-written and co-sung with Eric Schwartz, showcases Freebo’s humorous side, beginning with a tongue-in-cheek lament alluding to the often strict interpretation of Folk Music, then with no warning launching into a full blown funk song, complete with Tower Of Power Horns, yet withclever and historical lyrical references to folk music’s evolution and possibilities. Freebo’s humor is also found in She Loves My Dog More Than Me. To The Light, co-written with Severin Browne (Jackson’s brother), David Roth, and James Lee Stanley, was recorded over 10 years ago, but Freebo breathes new life into this tasteful arrangement. That’s What Love Is, a sweet ballad about the deeper side of love, has won The Posi Award for Best Song. |
Newly sung and re-mixed, the production is delicate and sparse, with acoustic guitar, fretless bass, cellos, and Jude Johnstone on piano. The rockin’ title track If Not Now When chronicles Freebo’s journey from “sideman to frontman” and explores the fear, doubt, blame, and regret that so many of us struggle with so often during our lifetimes. Previously unrecorded tracks include A God Of My Own Choosing and Call Me Freedom, the former a brave and personal look at our religious and Spiritual choices, the latter a fun autobiographical song about finding our way out of the box into which we were born and stepping into a new-found freedom. Lastly, never afraid to venture into the political realm, Freebo reprises When There’s No Place Like Home, a gracefully understated folk ballad written from the point of view of a homeless person. IF NOT NOW WHEN is produced by Freebo, co-produced and engineered by Robert Tepper, Mastered by Joe Gastwirt, recorded mostly in LA, and is graced many of the outstanding musicians with whom Freebo has played, including guitarists Mark Goldenberg (Jackson Browne), Shane Fontayne (CSN, Sting, Bruce Springsteen), Albert Lee (Eric Clapton, Everly Bros., Emmy Lou Harris), Jeff Pevar (CPR, Bette Midler, CSN), & Fuzzbee Morse (Lou Reed, Freebo). Outstanding drummers include Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Orleans), John Molo (Bruce Hornsby), Kenny Malone (everybody in Nashville!), & Tony Braunagle (Rickie Lee Jones, Taj Mahal). Here’s what critics are saying about Freebo:
With her soulful, impeccably tuned voice and crafted poetry, Boston singer-songwriter Alice Howe is "at once of the moment and timeless, personal and universal" (Mark Walton, Americana UK). Her pure, distilled sound reflects a musical sensibility rooted in '60s folk and '70s Southern California songwriters. Credit is due to Alice's parents for raising her on a steady diet of Taj Mahal, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Jackson Browne, and Joan Baez. As a performer, she is sure-footed and captivating, familiar to her audience from the very first song.
2017 was the year that Alice began making big waves in the folk world. Her EP You've Been Away So Long debuted on the April Folk-DJ charts with a #1 song - "Homeland Blues" - and #11 album. "Homeland Blues" went on to become the #7 song for all of 2017. Alice has been touring consistently in support of the EP, playing at such venerable Northeast venues as Club Passim, Caffe Lena, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. All in the last year, she was a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist, an Official Showcase Artist at FAR-West, and a Formal Showcase Artist at NERFA.
Come join us for an incredible evening of music. Please visit Freebo's website at FreeboMusic.com and Alice Howe's website at AliceHowe.com to learn more about these amazing performers. You can also listen to Freebo and Alice Howe on Monday morning, November 5th. They will be guests on Bob Weiser's "Old Songs' Home" radio show on WOMR. |
|
|
