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DL Rossi, A Sweet Thing

You can’t rush recovery. Americana-blues man DL Rossi learned that the hard way in the wake of a very painful divorce. On the verge of burning out completely, he turned to music as a way to cope and confront his past. His new album A Sweet Thing is a cathartic emission of everything he thought he knew about life, himself and what it meant to process such overwhelming heartache.

Despite it all, or perhaps because of it, he’s amassed an impressive resume. His first BIG break was when he became a member of the Free Credit Score band. Yep. You remember that commercial – right? He has also shared stages alongside such acts as Better Than Ezra, Liz Phair, Mayday Parade and Citizen Cope and made appearances on the George Lopez Show and at the Sundance Film Festival.

Rossi has weathered the unimaginable, including a bout with testicular cancer, and those crippling, yet necessary, experiences have only equipped him with the resolve to take his brokenness and make damn good music. “I lost a lot / But I also lost myself / Doing things I never thought I’d do,” he teeters on the brink of sadness and regret with “Better.” In between gently-wavering guitar tremolo, ethereal keyboards and a slow-burning melody, he makes a charge against himself that there’s no better time than the present to change. His tipping point came at a crucial moment in his life when booze and women were only delaying the inevitable crash. “I started letting myself down in how I was acting,” says Rossi, whose voice seems to crackle under the fire. “I was getting in this pattern of going out, getting drunk, meeting people and going on a date.”

“Right around this time last year, I had gone on a string of dates, and I just acted like a complete asshole. That was not me,” he says. Previously, he had never been one to overindulge and fly off the rails, but his misery charted a one-way train to hell. “Something was happening to me. The freedom I was allowing myself, which was a good thing at first, got to the point where I needed to get my shit together.”

Years before pursuing music, he displayed a curious disposition for adventure and often gave himself permission to trust his instincts. Youngest of three siblings, he was homeschooled and raised in a predominantly Christian household. His father played countless shows in the local bar scene around Metro Detroit, and once a month, his buddies came over for off-the-cuff jam sessions of old Beatles and Chicago records. At just 11 years old, Rossi’s older brothers started a band, and the seeds were planted for Rossi’s ongoing love affair with music. “I was the little brother hanging out at all their shows,” he recalls wistfully.

Later, at 15, his parents bought him a drum kit, and he soon took lessons. After only a few short months, he hopped onstage with his brothers’ band after the former drummer departed. But it wasn’t until he turned 18 that Rossi’s artistry really began to blossom, and he started to come into his own as a storyteller, exercising his penmanship with much of the band’s material. He stayed with the group for five years, and even though they received several offers from smaller record companies, released two albums and an EP and felt the high of local fame, their time was up.

Rossi remained involved in the church for a time, started doing his own music and attended college. Alongside his oldest brother and other players, he mounted a new project called the Victorious Secrets (Later the name was changed to “The American Secrets” for legal reasons) and went on to win a local Fox Sports affiliate song competition. They also tried their hand at writing a jingle for the national Free Credit Score ad campaign. Sailing through the online submission round, they boarded a flight to Los Angeles to shoot a commercial. They were then selected to become the face of the brand for a one to two-year commitment. As a result, they made several TV appearances, including on the George Lopez Show, and played gigs at SXSW. They eventually landed on Mayday Parade’s Fearless Friends Tour.

During such exciting artistic endeavors, Rossi’s health took a dark turn. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer at 27. Following a recording session at NYC’s legendary (and now-defunct) Magic Shop, he returned home for surgery and was laid out for almost two months afterwards. The cancer was fortunately discovered in stage one, and it proved to give him the jolt he needed to focus his attention on his solo music. “I realized I wanted to do more than what I had been doing. I really wanted to start writing my own music and see if I could do this,” he remembers.

He released his self-titled album in 2013, but his church community didn’t take too kindly to such a brash, punkish record that sought to question his religious beliefs and upbringing. “I released the record and got completely booted out of the worship community. They were friendly but passive-aggressive about it,” he says. “Some people didn’t like it; others didn’t care. Some thought it could be threatening to some people. It was the first time I was choosing to be honest as a songwriter.”

Nearly two years later, he underwent a nervous breakdown that shattered his love of music completely. “I got super depressed and suicidal, and I decided to give up music and try to get my life back together. I stopped playing and got a job at a Starbucks. I would play drums here and there if I could make money.”

He got married soon after, but it, too, was short-lived. “In the first year of marriage, shit hit the fan,” he admits, “and all of a sudden I was writing songs to cope with my life.”

A Sweet Thing is not only wrapped snugly in post-divorce trauma but also in a new-found appreciation for life itself. “I called my mom, called my dad / Let ‘em know I made it,” he weeps, his tears flowing profusely down his face. “This Road” opens the record with a soul-shattering story about his close encounter during a deadly shooting at Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. “I was there in the food court when it happened. There was a wave of 80 people running and screaming, ‘Run!’” he recalls. When the stampede made it out to the parking lot, no one could escape as all the exits had been closed.

So, he kicked up gravel. “I walked down the freeway to get to a point where an Uber would actually want to pick me up. There was a weird moment when I was calling my family and saying, ‘Hey, none of you know what’s happened, but I just have to call and talk to somebody,’” he continues. “It was a bit of a lonely experience for me. Coming out of a divorce, there was a moment where I was like, ‘Oh, something shitty could have happened to me, and the only people I have in my life right now that I want to call are my family, and they didn’t know where I was today anyway.’”

Rossi’s gutting performance sets the tone for the entire record, evoking a ghostly Townes Van Zandt-like quality. The heaviness in his heart spills out onto the record in spades, but A Sweet Thing is never overwrought or too grim. Rather, it’s as much an emotional release for the listener as it is for Rossi.  

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“Heartbreaking melodrama with a lonesome soulful cry…a natural storytelling ability…one of the new roots Americana voices to be heard in 2019.” – Glide Magazine

“D.L. Rossi bares his soul on his forthcoming album.” – Wide Open Country

“Searingly sincere songwriting.” – PopMatters

“A shuffled country ballad carried by a vibrant rhythm section and layered acoustic and electric guitars.” – Americana UK

“Refreshingly real music.” – Cowboys & Indians

“Americana-flavored anthem to love that puts gender equality at the front of the conversation.” – CHILLFILTR

“Emotion-laden Americana songwriting in search of catharsis.” – For Folk’s Sake

“DL Rossi’s low vocals over piano tones are rich with sorrow and resignation.” – Americana Highways ‘

“Just the right kind of rasp to his voice that works perfect for the Americana-tinged rock-based and country-kissing music.” – Ear to the Ground

“A Sweet Thing is a cathartic emission of everything he thought he knew about life, himself and what it meant to process such overwhelming heartache.” – Folk Radio UK

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Wanderin’ Fool

The thrill of the unknown can be exhilarating. Untethered by tradition, Americana singer-songwriter David Quinn hit the open road to find himself and rediscover his love of music. The highway swept out from under his feet, weaving through the mountains of Colorado down to the sweltering heat of Texas and then back out west to the coast of California, collecting images and bits of songwriting for what would become his debut album. Wanderin’ Fool is very much indebted to what he reckons was his quarter-life crisis, an adventure that not only reaffirmed his passion but gave him a new lease on life.

For his debut album, he worked with highly-sought-after producer Andrija Tokic, known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Langhorne Slim, Hurray for the Riff Raff and Margo Price, among countless others. Through his musical journey, Quinn has been lucky enough to share the stage with Sam Morrow, Josh Card, and The Giving Tree Band.

With this debut, featuring an all-star band comprised of Dave Roe (Johnny Cash), Jimmy Lester (Hayes Carll, Billy Joe Shaver), Jon Estes (John Paul White, Kesha), Micah Hulscher (Margo Price) and background singer Alexis Saski (of Americana-blues band Muddy Magnolia), Quinn plots out a dusty honky-tonk record that explores falling in and out of love, learning to live in the moment and the beauty of the American buffalo.

“Love the green grass under my feet / Feeling the mid-summer’s heat / The snow and the rain and the sleet / Just driving down ole main street,” he sings on the titular cut, alighting upon the tickle of piano and warbling electric guitar. In his staunch plainspokenness, Quinn gives a masterclass in storytelling with the ability to stage vibrant vignettes of life, home and heart. His craftsmanship exudes the blood, sweat and tears of a working musician just trying to get his voice heard. The significance of his west-bound road trip cannot be understated. “I really left everything and the life I was trying to make behind to do this. I had no intentions or plans at all. It was truly wandering,” he says.

“Gonna ride this ole line / Not a damn thing on my mind / Driving by them mountain trails ‘cross that ole coal mine / Gonna ride down low / Here I come, now here I go,” he chugs along at a steady pace on “Grassy Trails” in true Willie Nelson fashion. “Gap Tooth Girl” is a bartop romper about his fondness for gap-toothed women, while “Three Quarter Time” is a time-warped ballroom weeper reminiscent of The Nashville Sound era. He burns through the songwriting at a cool stride, allowing you the chance to soak your soul into his stories. His life-changing excursions, which also took him to the edge of the Grand Canyon and to the city of Moab, Utah, are tattooed onto his skin and feel as though he’s passed some sort of ultimate test.

Quinn’s life leading up to this very pivotal moment is rich with a working musician’s turmoil, his hands slathered in dirt and sweat from his brow. A midwestern boy born and raised in Woodridge, Illinois, 50 miles west of Chicago, Quinn was surrounded by old school country, soul and rock ‘n roll records. He spent most of his summers as a kid up in the north woods of Hayward, Wisconsin with his grandfather, which is where he gained a love for country music. Back at home, his father would often whip out the guitar for intimate at-home jam sessions. His dad’s real influence came when every weekend he would drink Jack Daniels and spin records all night. It was a bit of a history lesson of good music for Quinn, who inevitably took over that same routine.  

His older brother also displayed a knack for music and picked up the guitar to play gigs around town. Quinn began playing drums in high school and started to write his first songs. In the years that followed, he mounted numerous high-profile gigs in and around Chicago as a member of his brother’s blues-rock band. But his tastes quickly shifted right around the time he graduated high school in 2005. When a childhood best friend reached out to him to play together, Quinn uprooted his life and moved out to Los Angeles. While he was hammering away as part of a pop-rock outfit, he found himself playing for throngs of concertgoers. A year later, unease crept into his bones, and he longed to play his own music. A move back home felt right.

After going back to a day job, Quinn got married, bought a house and had seemingly settled down. He continued playing drums in his brother’s band, all the while questioning his next steps in his music career. When the marriage fell apart, cascading him into an even deeper state of uncertainty, he was feeling creatively unfulfilled and reached out to some friends who played in The Giving Tree Band. Not only did the bluegrass-folk outfit play on his debut EP, but Quinn opened for the group at numerous local shows. Even though he inched closer to being satisfied, something still wasn’t right, and he needed to shake things up again.

So, Quinn sold his house, quit his day job and mounted an emotionally-vital road trip across the country. Along the way, he played many of the country’s finest establishments, most notably Rex Bell’s Old Quarter Cafe in Texas, the famous spot of Townes Van Zandt and Hayes Carll. “I just did a bunch of shit I wanted to do,” he says.

Two years ago, he once again returned home to re-plant his roots and gather his senses with a renewed confidence and focus. He soon met producer Andrija Tokic of The Bomb Shelter studio, and the two exchanged emails for months before setting aside some studio time, turning attention to his new material.

His transformative travails are best exemplified with the album’s closing track, “Where the Buffalo Roam,” a genre-busting bookend to a necessary chapter of his life. “It’s the step-child of the record. It doesn’t fully fit. That song encompasses a lot of who I am and what I’ve been through,” says Quinn. “I’m also obsessed with the mountains and buffalo. I spent a lot of time in Colorado, and I used to sit and watch the buffalo. There’s a place outside of Boulder where they’ve preserved this land, and I would go there, sit and watch, and write.”

Wanderin’ Fool is a statement-making record of gutting, instinctual songcraft. From the heart-rending gallop of opening number “Cryin’ Shame,” in which he broods on a soured relationship, to the magical swirl of “In My Dreams,” his way to discharge another lover, to the tear-jerking “We Both Know,” Quinn’s debut cuts to the heart of what has made country music such an enduring art form.

Now, armed with his own voice and storytelling strengths, Quinn is finally ready to share the full breadth of his life — through every dizzying high to the most troubling low. Wanderin’ Fool is cured in the salt of the earth and packs a punch at every turn. You’d be hard pressed to find a more honest and downright delightful debut record.

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“A traditional country two-stepper…appreciation for the genre’s roots shines through.” – Wide Open Country

“Evokes the cosmically wild vibe of far-west Texas with vintage instrumentation and rich, mystical harmonies.” – The Boot

“Three Quarter Time’ isn’t just another life written down in notes. It’s David’s own little trek, marred by whiffs of irony and a whole vat of resilience.”- Comeherefloyd 

“An adrenaline rush.” Americana Music Association

“Not over-produced, simply great playing, a cool production sound . . . and Quinn’s voice that swings between rockabilly and honky tonk.” – Post Wire

“Wanderin’ Fool is cured in the salt of the earth and packs a punch at every turn. You’d be hard pressed to find a more honest and downright delightful debut record.” – Glide Magazine

“Wanderin’ Fool is sure to be a top-rated debut album of this year.” – Americana Highways – Americana Highways

” ‘Cryin’ Shame’ – is a simplified, bluesy, country track that will leave you absolutely reeling'” – Imperfect Fifth

“It’s an upbeat song that made me want to get up and dance. The entire album feels like that.” – Country Music Views

“It’s as ripe for front-porch pickin’ as it is for the hoedown at the local watering hole” – B-Side and Badlands

Publicist: Rachel Hurley

“Rachel was an absolute pleasure to work with! Her dedication and attention to detail were the best I have seen. This process was new to me and she broke it down each step of the way and made sure I was always kept up to date. She was always available whenever I needed and was always working to get my record and name in front of the right people. The amount of press and exposure that came from her hard work was beyond my expectations. I can not recommend her and Baby Robot enough. I will definitely be asking her to work my next record!” – David Quinn 

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“Effortlessly captures the feeling of life’s euphoric, fleeting highs.” – PopMatters

https://soundcloud.com/brad-byrd/01-that-great-feeling-mstr?in=brad-byrd/sets/phases/s-Gmrjw

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Brad Byrd, Phases

Over the course of his career, Brad Byrd has written songs that occupy the middle ground between indie rock and alt-country. He’s a genre-spanning musician, carving out a diverse sound fueled by melody, detailed storytelling, and the instincts of a journeyman songwriter who began making Americana music long before the genre had a name. Over the course of his career, he’s shared the stage with a variety of musicians, such as Jay Farrar, Mike Doughty, They Might Be Giants, Everlast, Lee DeWyze, and Family of the Year, showcasing undeniable versatility and commitment to his craft. With his fourth album, Phases, Byrd takes a look backwards, reflecting upon the lessons learned throughout his ongoing journey.

On Phases, the muse leads Brad Byrd back to himself. A reflective album filled with textured guitar tones, atmospheric arrangements, and his widest sonic range to date, Phases zooms its focus into various points in Byrd’s life, with each song examining the trials and triumphs of that particular moment. On the acoustic “Sunset Girl,” Byrd returns to his early adulthood in New York City, singing an ethereal ballad about lost love in the big city. He heads back to Massachusetts with “1982,” a nostalgic rock song about simpler times, then travels to Hollywood for “Vampires,” a haunted-sounding track about dealing with the temptations of a certain west coast city that can suck out your very soul. By the time he duets with fellow Massachusetts native Kay Hanley on “American Life,” Byrd has brought the listener full-circle, no longer focusing upon a bygone memory but, instead, spotlighting the challenges and controversies of the politically-charged present. Together, the 10 songs from Phases sketch a picture not only of Byrd himself, but of the world he inhabits, too.  

The journey began in Massachusetts, where Byrd was raised in a creative household. His father and younger brother were both musicians. Looking to further the family tradition, Byrd became a multi-instrumentalist at a young age, playing drums one minute and strumming the guitar the next. He was writing songs by his late teens, inspired in part by the classic sounds — from Beatles records to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young hits to the Cure — that had filled the Byrd home during his younger years.

While living in New York City during his early 20s, Byrd remained in touch with his former college classmate, Pete Yorn. When Yorn’s producer expressed interest in Byrd’s own music, the young songwriter began to see some doors open, leading to his first album. Thus began a series of cross-country moves, with each one taking Byrd from one coast to the next in search of new inspiration. Along the way, he’s released a string of acclaimed albums and one-off singles, starting with his 2005 debut The Ever Changing Picture — an album that lives on in syndication, thanks to several tracks finding their way onto a handful of television shows — and has continued with releases like his acclaimed 2018 cover of the Cure’s “Lovesong.”

From the start, Byrd’s music found himself planting one foot in the guitar-driven world of indie rock, with the other pointing toward a more rootsy, country-inspired direction. His voice suited both styles, and his hook-heavy songwriting drew a line between them. Inspired by modern trailblazers like Nada Surf, Wilco, Kurt Vile, and Ryan Adams, he blazed his own path, unafraid to chase the muse into unexplored territory.

A songwriting lifer, Brad Byrd has charted his own course since the turn of the millennium. When his record label went kaput after The Ever Changing Picture‘s release, he started his own (Elusive Tiger), ever-focused on continuing his output. When the garage in his California home became overrun with paintings and music equipment, he transformed it into a public art gallery and performance space. Now, with Phases, he examines the human condition from various perspectives, delivering an amplified rock song one minute and a stripped-down folk ballad the next. This is the next chapter in his story; the next step on his remarkable journey, wherever it may lead.

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Tennessee Alabama Fireworks

Black mirrors and social feeds have damaged our ability to connect on a deeply meaningful level. Alt-country/outlaw guitar-slinger Boo Ray delves deeply into the dire state of communication in the modern world with his new record, Tennessee Alabama Fireworks. The album plays like a southern gothic noir, and in his own words, explores the “nitty-gritty, guts and ugly parts of the human experience today.” These songs creep into the brain with his most poignant lyrics to-date. Boo Ray is every bit a hard-boiled poet as many of the pioneers that came before him, from the likes of Tony Joe White, Willie  Nelson and Jerry Reed.

Boo Ray fervently draws upon the situations and hurdles that make the world such a difficult environment to navigate these days. Continuing the dialogue from 2016’s Sea Of Lights, Boo Ray dives head first into even more vulnerable territory as he wrangles themes of heartache, reopened wounds, loneliness and swallowing his pride. With “A Tune You Can Whistle,” a raucous honky-tonk boogie that is as sincere and hopeful as it is macabre and melancholic, he laments about “one nation under the influence” of computer screens that have cast our humanity into a shroud of anxiety and detachment. Always self-effacing Boo Ray confesses in the middle-8 “If the pain of the pain wasn’t worse than the pain of the change, not a single damned thing’d be different I’d still be the same.”

“She Wrote the Song” surveys the scene at ground zero, just after impact as Boo Ray sings about true love mangled by miscommunication, dysfunction and addiction. Boo Ray’s strong unique voice carries with it a warmth and wisdom you trust and believe. “Don’t Look Back” is a reeling road song contrasting a weariness from, and an insatiable love for the highway. Boo Ray conjures cinematic southern gothic imagery when he sings, “Ragtop Eldorado floatin’ down the road / Moon lights up the bayou like a dance floor at a disco.”

Tennessee Alabama Fireworks was tracked live to tape over five days at Nashville’s Welcome to 1979 Studio, which has recently seen the likes of Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell and many more capturing their sounds within. “Making a record at Welcome To 1979 was a real powerful creative experience,” says Boo Ray. Producer Noah Shain, whose pedigree includes work with fellow outlaws Nikki Lane, Nico Vega, Dead Sara and Badflower, among many others, captures Boo Ray’s full-band storytelling style as vivid cinematic soundscapes that hit right at the heart and pull no punches.

Boo Ray grew up in the mountains a couple of hours west of Asheville, North Carolina, where he began songwriting at twelve years old, learned to play the guitar at fifteen and put a band together at sixteen, playing clubs around the region. In 2005, Boo Ray wandered from Athens, Georgia, out to Los Angeles, where he spent a few years working with a slew of west coast musicians before he was picked up by a bondsman and hauled back down south. In a little bit of a tough spot and needing a ten dollar item to hustle, he slapped together the ten best tracks he had for his first album. With the help of Steve Ferrone, Noah Shain, Paul Ill, Monica Ewing and Producer John “Q” Keggler he released 2010’s Bad News Travels Fast out of a halfway house.

Having learned what a one-sheet was from Hollywood actors & models on the west coast, he shipped 100 promos stuffed with CDs, one-sheets and Moon Pies as his first official Americana Music Association Radio Campaign. As a result of Boo Ray’s amazing songs and his tireless work ethic, his record reached the top 50 and stayed in the Top 100 of the Americana Chart and the Top 40 of the Roots Music Report for an entire year.

His first Nashville record, Six Weeks in a Motel followed in 2012 and gained enough attention to lead to a successful publishing deal, plus the recording and release of Sea Of Lights.

In addition to his music, Boo Ray spends some of his free time doing custom leather work, making hand tooled guitar straps and belts for his guitar picker pals, truckers, bikers, cowboys and rock & rollers. His customers have included Johnny Knoxville, Juliette Lewis, Billy Gibbons, and other household names.

Upon returning from tour earlier this year, Boo Ray went straight into the studio with his band to lay down his next record. His creativity hit on all cylinders, and Tennessee Alabama Fireworks was born out of a deep searching desire to address some grim realities of today’s world and it’s constantly-disconnected relationships. The album shifts between joyous, zen-like optimism (“Don’t Look Back”) and devastating critical care situations (“Outrun the Wind”) that can only come from living life and learning to navigate dark waters. Even considering such hard, inescapable truths, Boo Ray eyes a future full of hope and promise with craftsmanship that is built to last.

Boo Ray has been an official endorser of Olathe Boots since 2010 and has a new shirt line coming soon with Western Ranchwear H BAR C.

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“A stellar collection of southern songwriting and diesel-fueled country-rock.” – Wide Open Country

“Boo Ray combines the fervently emotive vocals and whirl of roadhouse blues to summon himself amongst the next breed of roots rock movers. ” – Glide

“Scorching…ambitious…a genuine country outlaw.” – PopMatters

“As inspired as it is original…blends Southern gothic noir and outlaw country.” – Cowboys & Indians

“Draws upon the difficulties and hurdles that make the world such a treacherous environment.” – The Daily Country

“Touches on the socio-political to the emotional turmoil of connecting in a digital age.” – Ditty TV

“Gloriously slinky” – Americana UK

“Illustrative of two sides of life on the road not always in opposition.” – Overdrive Magazine

“His best record to date.” – Gary Hayes Country

“Funny, excessive and very catchy…comes across like some amalgam of Jerry Reed, Eddie Rabbitt and Don Henley.” – Nashville Scene

Publicist: Rachel Hurley

“Working with Rachel Hurley and BabyRobot was a blast! They took the time to understand who I am as an artist and designed a very specialized powerful campaign just for the release of my new album. I’m looking forward to working with them again on my next release.” – Boo Ray

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East of Lincoln

Over the course of his career, singer/songwriter and Americana artist Tom Freund has released more than a dozen records, collaborated with legends such as Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne, pulled a half-decade stint on bass for alt-country pioneers The Silos, and has shared bills with everyone from Matthew Sweet to Guided by Voices. Freund’s intimate, heartfelt new solo album, East of Lincoln, chronicles a personal journey along the path from self doubt to enlightenment. “Time to take the wheel and turn this thing around / Time to make a deal and see what’s going down,” he affirms on “Runaround.” Freund takes his time and lets these new songs simmer, and that—along with memorable guest spots from longtime friend and collaborator Ben Harper and an all-star cast of session players—is a big part of the record’s charm.

Quietly reveling in its unhurried pace, East of Lincoln sticks in the mind long after listening. Within the record’s framework, Freund tackles progress, hope, and the corporatization of his beloved Venice Beach, which he captures as a bittersweet vortex of vanishing beauty and possibility. “I know I’m no saint, but I know when something is good and when it ain’t,” he sings on the title track, mourning Venice’s fading allure while basking in its once-electric atmosphere. The album dances on the edge of a stark duality: the sun-drenched SoCal beach town’s demise and Freund’s own eventual growth arc. “Better start swimming toward the shore,” he urges on “Abandoning the Ship.”

Much of the record—co-produced by Freund and Sejo Navajas (Smoke Season’s Gabrielle Wortman, Vintage Trouble)—is devastatingly raw. The primarily acoustic arrangements are livened up with some spectacular drumming from Matt Johnson (St. Vincent, Jeff Buckley) and Michael Jerome (Toadies, John Cale, Blind Boys of Alabama), pedal and lap steel from Ben Peeler (Dawes, Shelby Lynne, Father John Misty), keys from Rami Jaffe (Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams) and Chris Joyner (Sara Bareilles, Rickie Lee Jones) and violin from Jessy Greene (Wilco, The Jayhawks). But even with all these studio heavyweights on call, Freund is front and center on the record, singing and playing an eclectic mix of instruments including guitar, mandolin, ukulele, synth and his signature upright bass.

Ben Harper, who produced Freund’s 2008 record Collapsible Pains, lends his vocals to “Abandoning the Ship” and supplies steel guitar to ethereal closing track, “Dream On (Believe in Yourself).” Grammy-winning mixer Jim Scott, known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Wilco, Ron Sexmsith, Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams and many more, steps in for several sterling moments as well, leaving his sonic stamp on title song “East of Lincoln,” dreamy standout “Homer Simpson’s Clouds (Day of the Locust)” and dusky saloon romper “Poached Eggs.”

In many ways, Freund’s entire life and career have been leading up to this moment. He’s spent much of his time traversing genres, melding whatever sounds have happened to catch his whimsy with his unmistakable, earthbound songwriting. Back in high school, Freund played bass in the jazz ensemble and performed in productions such as Swing. A few years later, he enjoyed a brief stint in the off-Broadway scene and took classes at Columbia University in New York, later transferring to Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., but when music came knocking again, Freund answered.

His very first album was 1992’s Pleasure and Pain, a duo set with Ben Harper. For the next five years, he also toured and recorded with The Silos before releasing North American Long Weekend, his 1998 solo debut on Mercury Records. Moving ahead into the new millenium, Freund churned out several additional records while also assisting with projects from Mandy Moore, Rachael Yamagata, Graham Parker and other notable artists. From a handful of EPs to his 2007 kids record Hug Trees and 2011’s The Edge of Venice to his appearance playing alongside Parker in 2012 Judd Apatow comedy This is 40, Freund’s career has been a dynamic affair, and that includes plenty of work in film and TV.

His songs have been featured on series such as Better Things, Parenthood and One Tree Hill, and for his latest television project, forthcoming Amazon show Pete The Cat, Freund has co-written, sung and played songs with Elvis Costello, KT Tunstall, Dave Matthews and Diana Krall, and has also co-written the show’s theme song with creator Swampy Marsh (Phineas and Pherb). Costello takes lead vocals on each episode’s opening theme with Freund handling backing vocals and most of the instruments. Freund also co-wrote and sings the show’s end-credits song, “Go Pete Go.” All 14 episodes of the animated series are scheduled for release this September.

East of Lincoln builds on Freund’s legacy while pushing beyond his comfort zone. “Angelus” is a groovy, organ-doused opener, and “Freezer Burn” a vulnerable mid-tempo affair reflecting on personal flaws in the wake of a breakup. “I was running on hope and fumes,” he sings. And where “London Bound Lady” is feathery and sweet, “Broke Down Jubilee” is gutting and mournful, glimmering with tears and silver-lined strings.

Freund’s new record is a potent reminder that life is measured not just by our successes, but by how we choose to grow from our failures.

East of Lincoln is out Sept. 7 on Surf Road Records.

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“Timeless virtues are timeless for a reason… If you have any love for Tom Petty or are not averse to a slice of West Coast-influenced country rock then ‘East Of Lincoln’ should be your destination.” – AmericanaUK

“Gentle, rootsy…” – Billboard

“A rolling composition of grandeur that showcases melodic precision and cinematic lustre.” – Glide Magazine

“Instantly evokes visions of California skylines.” – Pop Matters

“Fans of roots-oriented artists such as Tom Petty, Townes Van Zandt and Lucinda Williams will find much to explore on ‘East of Lincoln’.” – LA Times

“At its heart and soul, it is pure classic rock that delivers relatable, engaging tunes that sometimes conjure the late, great musician. ” –Cowboys & Indians

“Freund’s new record is a potent reminder that life is measured not just by our successes, but by how we choose to grow from our failures.” – For Folk’s Sake

“Good stuff.” – Hype Machine

“You’ll feel like you’ve heard this one before and then bam… Freund hits you with a lyrical turn that makes you stop and think.” – Ear To The Ground

“Gets stuck in your head immediately” – Earbuddy