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Freedy Johnston is one of those rare singer-songwriters who counts critics among his biggest fans — and whose heroes consider him a peer. Not bad for a self-proclaimed “geek in glasses who never left his room.”
On September 9th, Forty Below Records will release Johnston’s 9th album, Back on the Road to You. It’s a record steeped in wit, humor, pathos, love, and friendship drenched with memorable, infectious melodies. Johnston recorded the album in Los Angeles with producer Eric Corne after setting up house in nearby Joshua Tree. The new surroundings have imbued the album’s mood and instrumentation with echoes of The Byrds, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young. Joining Johnston in the studio were Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, and long time collaborator, Susan Cowsill, along with an all-star roots music band, including Doug Pettibone (Lucinda Williams), Dusty Wakeman (Jim Lauderdale), Dave Raven (Shelby Lynn) and Sasha Smith (Priscilla Ahn).
In 1994 Rolling Stone named Johnston the ‘Songwriter of the Year’, describing him as “A master storyteller, (who) sketches out full-blown tragedies in a few taut poetic lines.” Adding, “He joins that 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.”
Aimee Mann joins Johnston on the angelic “Darlin’,” a song about undying love and the ghosts of the night. Enhanced by Doug Pettibone’s lilting pedal steel guitar, it wouldn’t sound out of place in a Gram and Emmy-Lou set. Aimee stated, “I’ve always loved Freedy’s voice and songwriting. I’m absolutely delighted he has a new record coming out and even more delighted to be singing on it.
Can You Fly made many ‘Best of the Year’ lists, including, The New York Times, Billboard, and Spin Magazine, to name a few. Robert Christgau for The Village Voice called it “a perfect album,” and Playboy declared it “the best album by a new male singer-songwriter in at least a decade.” Can You Fly was also cited in music critic Tom Moon’s book, 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die.
All the critical acclaim helped Johnston land a four-album major-label deal with Elektra Records. Butch Vig was brought onboard to produce 1994’s This Perfect World. The album opened with the hit “Bad Reputation” and included other standouts such as the title track and “Evie’s Tears.”
Freedy has contributed music to films such as The Farrelly Brothers cult classic Kingpin as well as Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead, and Kicking and Screaming. A series of albums followed his Elektra output, 2006’s Live at McCabes Guitar Shop, as well as 2010’s Rain on the City. In 2015 the self-funded Neon Repairman was released to critical raves from Stereogum, Paste, The New York Times, and Magnet.
Darren Jessee:
As a lifelong listener, Jessee understands as well as anyone the unique power of a song and an album. And he’s felt the effects when something strikes a chord within a worldwide audience after “Brick,” the song he co-wrote with Ben Folds, cracked the Top 20 in 1998 and pushed the album it’s on, Whatever and Ever Amen, to platinum sales.
Jessee knows what a rare thing that was and continues to be, but it hasn’t shifted his singular approach to songwriting one bit. He still creates music as a means to express something within himself that he’s sure will find that Central Bridge to his many fans and new listeners alike.