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Team Roster Freakwater knows what must be the most fruitful
long-distance relationship ever: Three hundred miles of interstate
have lain between Janet and Catherine, the main creative forces
of the band, since soon after Freakwater's inception. |
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| CATHERINE ANN IRWIN
has called Louisville, Kentucky home, or at least her home base,
all her life. She began performing by playing guitar in punk bands
"and not caring a bit about country music," she says.
Still, the seed for Freakwater was inside her: "Most of the
country music I heard on radio, I hated. But I loved the Carter
Family, the way they would approach songs about death and dying
or being saved and rejoicing the same way. That kind of music seems
to age better. I can't see myself playing punk anymore, but this
kind of music I can see playing the rest of my life." (Chicago
Tribune) Her songs are just packed with sapience, despondency, and
wry wit, though you don't have to look past "Louisville Lip"
or "Dirty Little Snowman" to see she's one of America's
greatest living songwriters. Even so, she remains humble, even self-depreciating:
"If I had a master plan, it'd be trying to get people used
to the idea of frumpy middle-aged losers singing music." (Boston
Phoenix) |
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JANET BEVERIDGE BEAN
also came of age in Louisville, but became a Chicagoan in the
mid-80's, chasing her rock-and-roll dreams with songwriter/guitarist
Rick Rizzo. Together, they are the heart of the long-standing
Eleventh Dream Day, for which she writes, sings and plays drums.
(Chicago Magazine has described Eleventh Dream Day as
"Chicago's most underrated band".) "I just write
about what I know. . .. The only thing I can do is be up late
at night, miserable, and something comes out of me. It's generally
really personal and written at very, very difficult times."
Her contributions to Freakwater's repertoire, such as "Binding
Twine" and "Double Clutch", may draw from real-life
troubles, but their expression is celestial, or otherworldly.
In 2003, Janet led a band called The Concertina Wire, with whom
she released the underground pop marvel Dragging Wonder Lake.
Songs there such as "One Shot" demonstrate her skill,
the product of twenty years of work in music. And she has still
another new band project, the Horse's Ha,
as well. |
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| Freakwater are iconoclasts
who have no use for labels: "I'm not proud so much that we
pre-date the term alternative country,” Janet says, “but
I am proud that we still exist." (countrystandardtime.com)
"Ultimately, I don't care about the integrity of music at the
commercial level. I care about what I do as a musician and what
Freakwater does as a band, and other than that I am not interested
in being a torch holder for any particular musical ethos."
(hour.ca) “We don’t really dwell on (the ‘alt-country’
label),” Catherine adds, “We get called ‘alt-country,’
but it doesn’t affect what we do — it’s just a
bin that our records get put into at the record store.” (citizen-times.com)
Ultimately, theirs is a personal, not commercial, enterprise. Catherine says, “Anything (good) that happens is something we never really tried for, so we're always coming out ahead." (citizen-times.com) “We never have plans for the future,” says Janet. “I would say that not having a plan is our only plan. It will be interesting to see how the band plays out, what people think of us, and where we fit in the grand scheme of things. I’ll be interested to see just where we are in 30 years, and it would be great if we’re still playing then.” (metropulse.com)
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DAVID WAYNE GAY,
aka "The Undertaker", is Freakwater's long-time bassist,
and has lived in Asheville, North Carolina since 1998. Onstage,
his cigarette continually burning, Dave maintains a quiet, cool,
and professional stance. His full contribution to the group will
probably always be underestimated and never fully understood by
folks on the outside. |
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