SETH FREEMAN ARTIST DEBUT (blues, soul, southern roots-rock, acoustic, funk, jazz) “Great job on the new CD! Been diggin’ it! You’re one of those guys who keeps gettin’ better.” – Larry Pearson, founding member of Judge Parker and also a past member of Black Oak Arkansas “You cut ‘Love Won’t Let Me Go’ better than I did!” - Hadden Sayers, songwriter and Blue Corn Recording Artist “I’d pay $25 to see this show!” – Bobby Bass, Seattle Promoter, Owner of 88 Keys, Seattle (Seattle, WA) SETH FREEMAN is going places with his music. There is no doubt and never really has been since he was about four years old. He was born in the heart of the South, Oct 14th, 1984 in Searcy, Arkansas, near Little Rock, where you must go on your way to the musical centers of New Orleans, Memphis, Austin & Nashville, plus Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City are all connected thru Little Rock. Similarly, in his youth, Seth’s Ozark Mountain Arkansas family reunions brought about 40 people together in a circle, most of whom played or sang music. Seth’s Grandma, Para Lee Freeman, was one of 14 kids and they grew their own vegetables, with their 1-12 school in one building. Seth’s Grandfathers, both bluegrass players (one pioneered pedals and is endorsed by Beck Musical Instruments), didn’t allow wrong notes so Seth’s playing is precise, never sloppy. In addition, Seth’s Dad, Jeff, taught him about horses AND songwriting, from solid shuffles to tender ballads, from Southern roots-rock to old time gospel hymns, from swingin’ jazz to stone-cold country. Luckily, his mother, Shea, taught him self-discipline. She didn’t allow bad grades, which meant he graduated from high school with Honors, and even took 2nd Place in a statewide talent contest at age ten. As a third generation guitarist, he lives to play and it was so obvious early on, his Senior classmates voted him ‘Most Talented’. Yet, it was Seth’s Great Aunt ‘Retha & Uncle Raymond on his Mom’s side, who ‘bestowed the sickness’ as Seth describes it. They saw him playing when he was just four years old and bought him guitar lessons at the age of five. After working the guitar neck for ten years, he picked up lap steel, and began learning on stage, which is how he has learned much of what he knows. He led his own working band as a teenager, cultivating fans & dates beyond his hometown and state with a simple demo CD, and by 2007 was touring 250 dates a year, with select dates opening for The Blind Boys of Alabama and Jonny Lang. He was being represented by Blue World Entertainment, and was considered the next hot young guitarist coming out of the South in late 2008 when he suffered a badly broken back in a serious auto accident while on tour in Alaska. (See complete story at www.sethfreemanband.com) TESTIFY: When people hear Seth Freeman play live, they stand and watch with jaws dropped and make predictable comparisons to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, and of course he studied both guitar ‘gods’. But what you hear is no copycat, no fast noted rocker emulating every note, although he can if he wants to, but a very soulful guitarist who places every note exactly where he wants it. His mastery of the guitar, and especially the lap steel and dobro, are immediately evident and seductive. He also plays mandolin, piano, drums, banjo, Weissenborn and more, so words like ‘a natural,’ ‘the real deal’ and ‘authentic’ are justified. Seth Freeman has found his musical voice through a lifetime of hard work, lots of listening & learning about the art of music from everyone around him, and technically knowing his instruments backwards & forwards. It seems effortless for Seth to make the slide guitar howl and breathe and literally sing like a black woman gospel singer full of the spirit, and then turn around and bring the tears with a heartfelt number on acoustic guitar. He is grounded in solid rhythm and great dynamics, he has a producer’s ear and hears all of the parts and knows all of the changes and knows a good song when he hears one. He loves a challenge and pushes his fellow musicians to get the tempo AND the feel right. He also has real life experiences to write and sing about including being a track & field star in high school, dabbling in extreme sports like skydiving, touring and playing for many different live audiences. He has also had his musical instruments stolen, and a few genuine heartbreaks, plus in 2013 his custom-made lap steel was stolen and then found, and his Alaska accident left him in nearly constant pain and discomfort. After at least a year of healing, Seth made his first European tour with Judge Parker and John Seaberg in 2010, really enjoying the international audiences. Seth Freeman loves to make a connection with his fans & fellow musicians and never passes up a chance to talk with fans after performing. This also meant he lost two precious guitars to theft while in conversation after a gig in Holland. In 2011, while back in ‘The Greatland’ of Alaska, Seth met Rik Nielsen, from Valdez, and they began to push each other on bottleneck & bar slide styles on guitar/dobro/Weissenborn/duolian resonator. In early 2012, Seth would choose Rik as his co-producer as he began to record what would be his debut CD with a passion and drive like never before. It took amazing timing and coordination to get all of the artists from all over the country that he wanted on the Arkansas sessions and he managed to make it happen, often in one take and without many overdubs or ‘punch ins’. At the same time he began producing two new projects at Blue Chair Studios with engineer & co-producer, Darian Stribling, and at Red Brick Studios with Jason Waterson, both his Dad’s CD, and his acoustic CD. Now, with his long awaited band CD AND his acoustic CD in hand, Seth Freeman is ready and deserves to be heard.