Greg Freeman w/ Jawdropped

Greg Freeman thrives on finding emotional catharsis and present-day resonance in the eccentric ugliness of the past. His songs all have a palpable sense of place thanks to his urgent delivery and evocative lyricism, which mines history for character-driven tales of violence, loss, and epiphany. On his sophomore LP Burnover, out August 22 via Canvasback Music/Transgressive Records, the Maryland-born, Burlington, Vermont-based artist uses the complicated backdrop of the Northeast to sing of grief, alienation, and the clarity that comes from opening up yourself to love. Explosive, unsettling, and undeniable, the 10 tracks here meld energetic indie rock with an ambling twang. It’s Freeman’s most adventurous and personal yet, cementing him as a singular songwriting talent.

 

When Freeman quietly released his debut LP I Looked Out in 2022, it had no PR campaign, label, or music industry promo, but still received raves from Stereogum and Uproxx. The word-of-mouth success of that release had Freeman on a relentless tour schedule. An itinerant lifestyle from ceaseless long drives made him think about home and his role in it. “I was trying to make an album about where I live, without specifically writing about myself and my immediate surroundings,” says Freeman. Driving around Vermont, he’d pass by the birthplaces of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and Ethan Allen, the Revolutionary War figure and state icon. “I was drawn to these slightly tragic regional figures who helped me understand the culture of that area even today,” he says.

 

Burnover borrows its title from “The Burned-Over District,” a term used to describe parts of central and western New York that became hotbeds of fervent religious revival and utopian communities during the early 19th century. “There was this period where there’s all this psychedelic, religious movement coinciding with the territorial expansion,” says Freeman, citing Jack Kelly’s Heaven’s Ditch as well as Louise Glück, Grace Paley, Jim Thompson and Emily Dickinson’s writings as inspirations. On the album, there’s a sense that danger or revelation lurks behind every corner. It opens with the foreboding “Point and Shoot,” where he sings, “But I was lost like a little child / In a wilderness where the West was way too wild.” It’s a livewire track, with tangible momentum and an expansive arrangement.

 

When Freeman was touring I Looked Out, he revamped his live setup as a five-piece where he was the only guitar player. He took that mindset to Burnover, which he recorded with Benny Yurco, drummer Zack James (Dari Bay, Robber Robber) and Freeman’s live band, at Benny Yurco’s Little Jamaica Recordings in Burlington. “I wanted to write songs that were fun and challenging to play on guitar, and maybe had a little more movement,” he says. 

 

Though Burnover is an album about feeling like an outsider and grappling with American myths to create or uncreate a sense of self, it also reflects Freeman’s firm community in his adopted home in Vermont. “I had a choice whether to make this record in Burlington or do it somewhere else,” he says. “I wanted my friends to play on it so the decision was obvious.” He ended up with a collection of songs that burst at the seams with raw immediacy and spark. “With this album, I really just wanted there to be as many things to hold onto as you can,” he says.