Music	Freakwater by Eric Boucher

The term “alt-country” can be damning. It often reeks of scraggly, bearded men in their 20s and 30s playing a sort of country-era Rolling Stones sound with the obligatory Johnny Cash or Hank Williams references thrown in. Bands such as The Drive By Truckers or Uncle Tupelo have been able rise above the stereotypes but all too often, the results have been grating.

It’s a pity then, that Freakwater has often been haunted by the “alt-country” tag as the band’s music is as far away from such a narrow-minded genre as can be. Both Janet Beveridge Bean and Cartherine Ann Irwin of Freakwater may have the punk rock pasts that go with the term, but the music they create is much more transcendent and haunting than any of their so called peers. The pair more resembles a modern day Carter Family than anything off of Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers.

Freakwater

Formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1987 and named for a slang for moonshine, Freakwater formed around the axis of Bean and Irwin. Working within the traditional country frame of instrumentation and utilizing steel guitar, fiddle, mandolin and dobro, Freakwater set themselves apart with Bean and Irwin’s rich harmonies and a lyrical content that delved into a sort of human suffering with which even country music wasn’t especially familiar. Freakwater began recording in 1989 before finally signing to Thrill Jockey Records, a label known more for its avant garde and experimental releases, in 1995. By the time of that year’s masterpiece, Old Paint, the band had cultivated a large following of fans with many hailing the group as some of the most authentic and pure country music to be heard in a long time.

Although subsequent albums such as Springtime and End Time saw the band expanding its sound with augmented instrumentation and various guest musicians, Freakwater went on hiatus at the end of 1999. While both Bean and Irwin released solo albums on Thrill Jockey in 2002, both missed the feeling of creating and performing together. Hence, after six years of being inactive, Freakwater returned to release Thinking Of You this summer on Thrill Jockey.

While past Freakwater releases often remained in the more traditional realm, Thinking Of You benefited from incorporating various members of the Chicago art-blues ensemble Califone into the mix. While the basic core of Freakwater is still there, Califone’s Tim Rutilli, who produced the record at Brian Deck’s Clava studio, provides jagged electric guitar as well as pump organ to many of the songs. Percussionist Ben Massarella, also of Califone, gives the songs a creepy and discomforting air with his use of non-traditional drumming and various household appliances. Although it is unlike any previous record, Thinking Of You still retains the initial intentions and spirit of the group.

Lyrically, the recording is steeped in sadness and heartache. As was once written about them, Freakwater writes from a place more black than the blues and has often referred to its music as “evil.” While that may be going a little bit too far, Freakwater creates a beautiful misery in their songs that simply cannot be compared to anything else.

Freakwater’s live performances are legendary, both dark and rustic as well as comforting and uplifting—sometimes all within the same song. And, again, like a modern-day Carter Family, the group incorporates authentic instrumentations, traditional songs and harmonies that few can match.

Freakwater performs at

Mohawk Place on

Friday, October 21 at 11PM.

Opening is local country outfit

Flatbed.