Showing posts with label dori freeman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dori freeman. Show all posts

Thursday, October 26, 2017

video review: 'letters never read' by dori freeman


Man, not a huge amount to say on records like this, but when it's this straightforward and good, you don't need to say much. Definitely check this out.

But now for something that's probably equally as good and not straightforward... well, stay tuned!

album review: 'letters never read' by dori freeman

There's a part of me that's always a little surprised that Dori Freeman doesn't get more buzz - but then I go back to that self-titled record from last year and remember instantly.

And believe it or not that's not a diss or anything! Dori Freeman's debut was one of many fantastic records from women in indie country in 2016, anchored in terrific layered and textured production from Teddy Thompson - son of the legendary Richard Thompson - and bound together with Freeman's writing that was subtle enough to soothe but sharp enough to sting when you least expect it. But subtle, plain-spoken indie country records like this can be easy to overlook, especially given the understated presentation... at least until you go back and remind yourself exactly why it's so damn good, which you can bet I did before listening to Letters Never Read, her follow-up that was just released. Now I did have a few reservations about this - more than a few songs were covers this time around, and yet it was only a ten song release that somehow is even shorter than the last two ten song records I covered, clocking less than a half hour. But on the other hand, it wasn't like Dori Freeman didn't pack her last album with detail on its short length, so what did I find on Letters Never Read?

Thursday, February 25, 2016

video review: 'dori freeman' by dori freeman


Oh, I'm so happy I got the chance to cover this album. Doubt it's going to get a lot of traffic, but I hope I can drive more attention to her - this girl deserves a lot more attention.

Next up, Santigold, Macklemore, and The 1975 - stay tuned!

album review: 'dori freeman' by dori freeman

So I haven't talked as much as I'd prefer about indie country yet this year, mostly because of the same reason I haven't talked about much hip-hop this year - 2016 has had a bit of a slower start, and there hasn't been much that's really caught my ear.

And yet there's been one artist that when the indie country sites exploded with critical acclaim, I knew I had to take a look eventually, and that woman is Dori Freeman. Born in south-west Virginia, it seemed like her situation would be the same for many indie country prospects with no real web presence - it's never good for buzz if I've got more of a following than the artist I'm covering. And then something funny happened: she was 'discovered' by Teddy Thompson, the son of the legendary singer-songwriter Richard Thompson, who pulled enough strings to get her into the studio to cut a debut album. Now keep in mind that Dori Freeman doesn't seem to have any obvious connections to the burgeoning 'New Outlaw' movement under Dave Cobb in Nashville - we could have the sort of outlier that rarely receives any attention at all if not picked up by the critical set or an indie label with ingenious promotion or something going viral.

In other words, this is the sort of artist my channel is made for, so I finally got the chance to really dig into Dori Freeman's self-titled debut album - what did I get?