Hey Everybody,
Man, it's already March 10th and this is my first post of 2016.  Lame!!  Anyway, I posted a video today of a song called "Freedom On the Ledges"... which is also likely to be the title of my next record.  The video is on YouTube and also in the 'Video' section of this very website.  Tricky, huh!

Speaking of my next record, work continues in the studio w/ my trusted bassist / drummer / producer Corey Hess.  I am very excited with how things are sounding.  My guitar and vocals are done, as are bass and drums.  The next steps are to record lead guitar, organ, piano, and violin.  It sounds like a lot as I type it, but, hopefully, will go quickly and smoothly.  I'm shooting to have the whole thing mixed, mastered and in hand by Fall of this year.

Hope everyone's doing well as Spring makes an early appearance!  Take care,

​B

Hey Everybody,
On Saturday, December 19th, 60s folksinger Phil Ochs would have turned 75 years old.  While he died in 1976, his life and songs are still celebrated by many devoted fans worldwide.  "Phil Ochs Song Nights" occur across the country, with fans and musicians gathering to sing Phil's songs and share stories.
I am very happy to be participating in a similar event in commemoration of Phil's 75th birthday.  On Saturday, December 19th, from 1-5, I am one of several local musicians- including David Lenander and Greg Bohen- who will be playing some of Phil's songs at Sidhe Brewing Company in St. Paul.  I will be performing "The Highwayman", a 1906 poem by Alfred Noyes set to music by Phil in the 1960s.  It is a favorite song of mine and I am honored and excited to be singing it at this event.  I will also likely sing the "City Hall" song I've recently posted about below as it is very similar in its political nature to much of Phil's work.   If you're interested in checking out some cool 60s political music and drinking some good local beer, come on out on Saturday!  Hope to see you there!

​B

Hey Everybody,
​Here is a rough cut version- and my first iMovie "video", haha- of my song "City Hall".  It is about a neighborhood dispute Laura and I became involved in regarding the  proposed construction of what we believe to be an oversized, out-of-character building in our neighborhood.  I'm thinking it will be the opening track on my new record, which should be done in 2016.  Still need to edit, mix, add some harmonica to this track, plus lots of overall work on the album as a whole.  Still, excited about how things are progressing, hope you dig it... B

Hey Everybody,
A quick note to say I recorded a video of my new song "American Kid" last nite and posted it to my YouTube channel, "bobfreymusic".  You can also view it in the "Videos" section of this very website, along with a few other videos I've posted.  Hope everyone is doing well!!
B

Hey Everybody!  
I hope all of you had a great Summer.  I am back at work, beginning my 14th year at the Perpich Center for Arts Education.  My Summer was great, spent a lot of time at my family's place in Northern Wisconsin.  

I was also in the studio a fair amount, very excited about the record I am working on.  Guitar and vocals are essentially complete, and the drum tracks are about half way there.  Potential songs include: "15th Love Song", "American Kid" (a song I just wrote last week and am excited to debut at Honey on 8/27), "Best of Luck", "City Hall" (my commentary on a local building dispute), "Elijah", "Every Single Turn", "Freedom on the Ledges", "Lakes of Ponchartrain" (a traditional cover I often play in my sets), "Longshot Deal", "Mishaps & Mistakes",  "Red Right 88" ( re-recording this ode to my beloved Cleveland Browns which first appeared on "Tape From Minnesota"), "The Refrigerator Song", "Small Stage",  "Snake Oil", "We Used to Look Like That" (a song I wrote 20-plus years ago!!), and a medley of the traditional songs "You Are My Sunshine" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".  

I think it's all sounding pretty solid thus far, and I look forward to hearing the songs develop with the addition of drums, bass, harmonica, accordion, organ, lead guitars, and violin.

On the homefront, Laura and I received good news in January, April and July, a trend we very much hope continues.  Our son Jonathan begins 6th grade next week, and, seemingly suddenly, Fall is upon Us...

Best of Luck to everybody out there!!  I hope you can make it to a show, and I'll continue my feeble attempts to keep this site updated with news & music & info, haha.

Take care,

B

Hey Everybody,
I am happy to report that, in the last month or so, I completed two new songs.  "Longshot Deal" and "Small Stage" both came pretty easily, and I may play both of them as soon as tomorrow nite in Northfield, MN.  

Also over the last month or so, I've played a few coffeeshop shows- been a long time!!- with some Perpich students in an effort to promote the Perpich Center for Arts Education- my employer since 2002!  We have played in Moose Lake, Duluth, Cloquet, Excelsior and, tomorrow evening, will play our final show of this effort in Northfield, MN at a coffeeshop / winebar called the Hideaway.  It's owned by the family of some Perpich alums and should be a great time. 

Finally, I have some dates booked to get back to work w/ my friend Corey Hess- in his newly remodeled and much improved studio!- on my next record.  I'm toying with the idea, actually, of making it a double disc deal as I have a bunch of songs and would love to get them all "out there."  We shall see...

Anyway, hope everybody's doing well.  I have Honey shows scheduled in May & June, and hope to have one in July, too.  See you then!

Bob

Hey Everybody,

Two posts in two days!!

I am excited to write that, last nite, I received an email from the online music site Pandora Radio (www.pandora.com).  I submitted my "Nothing Hid" record to Pandora last Fall.  I knew it takes quite a while for them to sort thru submissions, and I really wasn't sure when- or what- I would hear from them.  Well...  It looks like whoever listened to it either hit the wrong button or liked the tunes, haha.  What it means is that, eventually- I've read it can take as long as 6 months- "Nothing Hid" will be on Pandora.  

For those of you who may not know, Pandora runs some kind of complicated algorithm that links music / musicians it determines are, in some way, similar.  Listeners can create a "station" by entering a band / musician, then Pandora fills out the station by playing the music / musicians it determined to be similar.  So, for instance, if you create a Beatles station, you'll likely hear stuff by other British Invasion acts like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, etc.

I don't know with whom I'll be linked, perhaps I'll end up wishing I hadn't submitted my stuff, haha.  For now, though, I'm pretty excited.  Hopefully, being on Pandora means a lot more people will hear my songs and, maybe, check out my music.

Thanks for reading, and for your support...

B

Hey everybody!!  
As is usually the case, it has been much too long since I posted.  I hope everyone is doing well.  I enjoyed the holidays with my wife and son, including a roundtrip drive from Mpls to Holland, MI to visit my parents.  Our son stayed in Michigan for an extra week, and Laura and I had a nice week together at home to end 2014.  Time flies, and now Spring is in the air, really enjoying the warmer temps and the later light, even if it cost an hour of sleep.

Looking back on 2014, it was a pretty productive year in terms of writing.  I completed 6 new songs, including "Freedom on the Ledges", "Every Single Turn", "Mishaps & Mistakes", "15th Love Song", "City Hall", and "Snake Oil".  In terms of playing, Honey remains a steady gig, and I thank Jon for continuing to book me in that cool venue.  I really haven't made much effort to book anything else as I try to balance home, work, and music, though I am hoping to return to the lineup of the Mpls Music in the Parks series this summer.  Finally, I hope to resume work on my next record sometime soon and am really looking forward to completing what I think will be a sparse and folky record with some solid songs!

Regarding songs, I also recently completed my first one of 2015.  It's called "Longshot Deal" and I'm enjoying playing it, over and over around the house, as I do with just about every song when its new.  It helps me develop the song and remember the lyrics, even if, maybe, Laura and Jonathan grow a bit tired of hearing the same song, haha.

I suppose that's all for now.  I have a Honey show on March 26th, and my Spring Break is the following week.  I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you can make it out to a show!!  Take care, B

Hey Everybody,
As Summer comes to a close, I am back at my teaching job and trying to adjust to the idea of having to be at a certain place at a specific time.  Ugh...  Still, it's a great job, working at the Perpich Center for Arts Education.  Awesome, artsy kids and colleagues, I'm pretty lucky.
Also, excited to be playing tonite what has become a fairly regular gig for me.  I'll be at Honey in NE Mpls, and will play a new song I call "Fifteenth Love Song" as well as a new cover by Todd Snider called "I Can't Complain".
In total, I have 5-6 songs ready to record for a new release, working again with my buddy and sometimes drummer Corey Hess.  These include the aforementioned "Fifteenth Love Song", "Every Single Turn", "Freedom On the Ledges", "Mishaps & Mistakes", an old one called "Elijah McGrew", and a work-in-progress tentatively titled "City Hall".  I have no timeline for finishing this record, it's in the very early stages and I'm still considering how I want it to sound.  Still, I'm excited to have some songs and, hopefully, I'll have a finished product in a year or so.
On the homefront, I'm spending as much time as possible with my beautiful and awesome wife Laura and our super cool son Jonathan.  Due to Laura's health concerns, I'm not really trying to book many shows these days, which makes the semi-regular Honey slot all the more special to me.  Similarly, embarking on a new recording project is a cool focus and working with Corey allows me the time flexibility my life demands these days.  Thanks, Corey!!
I hope everyone out there is hanging tough and that you had a great summer.  
As always, Take Care and Go Browns!!
Yer Bud,

Bob

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife Laura, as well as my Mom Lynne, my Mother-in-law Barbara, and all the other Moms out there. 

Laura and I are heading down to the Dakota tonite to check out Joey Ryan & Kenneth Pattengale, aka The Milk Carton Kids.  I've been a big big fan of these dudes for years now, and they are truly masters at what they do... which is writing acoustic folky songs, and performing them with compelling & impeccable harmonies and masterful guitar work.

Regarding my own stuff, my radio campaign is progressing pretty well.  I've been played on independent stations across the country, even making top-20 lists on a few.  A reviewer for AZ station KAMP wrote,
"You can definitely hear the sentiment and genuineness in Bob Frey's album...  From his songwriting you can tell that music is genuinely a therapeutic, inspiring beauty for him. The instrumentals are folky and beautiful, with acoustic guitar and violin, simple beats and heartfelt organ...  The whole album seems to blend together into an hour long song, oddly in a good relaxing way. He's got a slow Cat Stevens feel to him. If you're feeling introspective, check this album out, you just may like it."

I hope everyone's doing alright, and I hope to see you around or here from you...

Take care,

Bob