{{Short description|American band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Freakwater | image = Freakwaterwikipedia.jpg | caption = Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean in 2006 | image_size = | alt = Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean in 2006 | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Louisville, Kentucky U.S. | genre = Alternative country | occupation = | years_active = 1989–present | label = Amoeba Records, Thrill Jockey, Bloodshot, Glitterhouse, City Slang | associated_acts = Eleventh Dream Day<br />Horses Ha<br />Stump The Host | website = {{URL|freakwater.net}} | current_members = Catherine Irwin<br />Janet Beveridge Bean<br />Dave Gay | past_members = John Alexander Spiegel<br />Dan Scanlan<br />Peter Searcy<br />James Bond<br />Matthew 'Wink' O'Bannon<br />John Rice<br />Brian Dunn<br />Lisa Marsicek<br />Bob Egan<br />Max Konrad Johnston<br />Joel Batty<br />Brendan Burke<br />John Nickels }} '''Freakwater''' is an American alternative country band from Louisville, Kentucky, with one co-founding member living in Chicago.<ref name=NYTimes-MercuryLounge-1998>{{cite news|last1=Ratliff|first1=Ben|title=In Performance; Pop|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/19/arts/in-performance-pop-652660.html|accessdate=19 November 2015|work=The New York Times|date=19 February 1998}}</ref> Freakwater is known for the lead vocals of Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin, who mix harmony and melody in idiosyncratic dissonant country-folk that is reminiscent of the Carter Family.<ref name=FADER-Scheherazade-2016>{{cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Duncan|title=Freakwater Still Rules, 30 Years Later|url=https://www.thefader.com/2016/01/20/freakwater-number-one-with-a-bullet|accessdate=20 January 2016|work=The FADER|date=20 January 2016}}</ref><ref name=ChicagoTrib-Hideout-2013>{{cite news|last1=Gendron|first1=Bob|title=Freakwater spotlights mood and melody at the Hideout|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/01/23/freakwater-spotlights-mood-and-melody-at-the-hideout/|access-date=20 January 2016|work=Chicago Tribune|date=23 January 2013}}</ref><ref name=TrouserPress-Freakwater-2007>{{cite news|last1=Kemp|first1=Mark|title=Freakwater|url=http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=freakwater|accessdate=20 January 2016|work=Trouser Press|date=2007}}</ref>
==History==
===Thrill Jockey=== In 1989, Janet Beveridge Bean (of rock band Eleventh Dream Day) and Catherine Irwin founded the band, and they have been supported by several musicians since then, including members of Califone (2005 ''Thinking of You'' tour). Bassist David Wayne Gay, formerly of Stump The Host, is another long-time member of the band. They released their records on Chicago's Thrill Jockey label.<ref name=ChicagoReader-OldPaint-1995>{{cite news|last1=Reger|first1=Rick|title=Freakwater: Old Paint|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/freakwater/Content?oid=888696|accessdate=19 November 2015|work=Chicago Reader|date=12 October 1995}}</ref> From 2006 to 2013, Bean and Irwin worked on other projects. A reissue of 1993's ''Feels Like the Third Time'' as a 20-year anniversary restarted the duo playing together as Freakwater.<ref name=ChicagoTrib-Interview-2013>{{cite news|last1=Hopper|first1=Jessica|title=Freakwater back with a melodic bang, no whimper|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/01/17/freakwater-back-with-a-melodic-bang-no-whimper/|access-date=20 January 2016|work=Chicago Tribune|date=17 January 2013}}</ref> In 2014, the band went out on the road, touring and playing the record as their main set.<ref name=DOA-JanetBeanInterview-2015>{{cite news|last1=Adrian|title=Interview with Janet Beveridge Bean (Eleventh Dream Day)|url=http://www.adequacy.net/2015/08/interview-with-janet-beveridge-bean-eleventh-dream-day/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806025919/http://www.adequacy.net/2015/08/interview-with-janet-beveridge-bean-eleventh-dream-day/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 6, 2015|work=DOA|date=August 3, 2015|language=en-US}}</ref>
===Bloodshot Records=== In February 2016, Freakwater released the record ''Scheherazade'' on Bloodshot Records. In advance of the full-length record—-the duo's first record since 2005-—Freakwater released a single called "The Asp And The Albatross".<ref name=Stereogum-Scheherazade-2015>{{cite news|last1=Siregar|first1=Cady|title=Freakwater – "The Asp And The Albatross" (Stereogum Premiere)|url=http://www.stereogum.com/1841021/freakwater-the-asp-and-the-albatross-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/|accessdate=19 November 2015|work=Stereogum|date=3 November 2015}}</ref>
===Freakons=== In 2013, and again in September 2017 and July 2021, Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin of Freakwater joined with Jon Langford and Sally Timms of the Mekons to be the Freakons, performing original and cover songs about coal mining in Appalachia, England, and Wales, to support the non-profit organization Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Each time, the Freakons performed at the Hideout in Chicago, and elsewhere in Wisconsin. In 2013, they also performed at San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. In 2017, they were accompanied by violinists Jean Cook of New York City and Anna Krippenstapel of Louisville (The Other Years, Joan Shelley, etc.), and, only in Chicago, by Chicago/Louisville guitarist James Elkington (The Horse's Ha, etc.). In 2021, the same line-up, without Elkington, performed, and they released the live album ''Freakons'', recorded at the 2017 Chicago performances. <ref name=Freakons_BS2013>{{cite web |author=Rami |date=4 September 2013 |title=Bloodshot News: Mekons + Freakwater = Freakons! |publisher=Bloodshot Records |url=https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/news/mekons-freakwater-freakons |accessdate=2018-08-05 |archive-date=August 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806084913/https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/news/mekons-freakwater-freakons |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Hardly Strictly Bluegrass |date=2013 |title=2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=453k2UjkH14&t=7s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/453k2UjkH14 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|accessdate=2021-08-09 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=Freakons_ChicagoReader2017> {{cite web |date=31 August 2017 |author=Kendrick, Monica |title=Alt-country heroes Freakwater and postpunk lifers the Mekons come together to get their Freakons |publisher=Chicago Reader |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/alt-country-heroes-freakwater-and-postpunk-lifers-the-mekons-come-together-to-get-their-freakons/Content?oid=29814321 |accessdate=2018-08-05 }}</ref><ref name=Freakons_ShittyBarn&BrownPaper2017> {{cite web |date=19 September 2017 |title=Freakons at the Hideout and the Shitty Barn |publisher=Loerzel, Robert |author=Loerzel, Robert |url=http://www.undergroundbee.com/2017/09/19/freakons-at-the-hideout-and-the-shitty-barn/ |accessdate=2018-08-05 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=8 June 2021 |publisher=Hideout |title=Freakons (early patio show) |url=https://hideoutchicago.com/event/freakons-early-patio-show-7-24-21/ |access-date=2021-06-08 |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608173235/https://hideoutchicago.com/event/freakons-early-patio-show-7-24-21/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2021 |title=Fluff & Gravy Records |publisher=Fluff & Gravy Records |url=https://fluffandgravy.com/ |accessdate=2021-07-30 }}</ref><ref name=Freakons_2021album>{{cite AV media |date=2021 |title=''Freakons'' [album liner notes] |publisher=Fluff & Gravy Records}}</ref>
== Artistry == Hilary Saunders of ''Paste Magazine'' assessed the band's musical style: "''Old Paint'' musically looks backwards. It has the jauntiness of barn dances, complete with fiddles, dobros, and tambourines. Yet, Irwin and Bean's voices, content in their different ranges, somehow meld to tell country tales that still sound ahead of their time."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 70 Best Alt-Country Albums of All Time |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/alt-country/the-50-best-alt-country-albums-of-all-time |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Paste Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Collaborations== * The band makes an appearance in the 1994 cult road movie ''Half-cocked''.
==Discography==
===Albums=== * 1989: ''Freakwater'' (Amoeba Records) * 1991: ''Dancing Under Water / Freakwater'' (Amoeba Records) * 1993: ''Feels Like the Third Time'' (Thrill Jockey;City Slang) * 1995: ''Old Paint'' (Thrill Jockey; City Slang) * 1995: ''June 6, 1994'' (Glitterhouse Records) * 1997: ''Dancing Under Water'' LP/CD (Thrill Jockey) * 1998: ''Springtime'' LP/CD (Thrill Jockey) * 1999: ''End Time'' LP/CD (Thrill Jockey) * 2005: ''Thinking of You...'' (Thrill Jockey) * 2016: ''Scheherazade'' (Bloodshot Records)
===Singles=== * 1990: "Your Goddamned Mouth" / "War Pigs" (1 1/4 York Records) * 1993: "My Old Drunk Friend" / "Kentucky" (Thrill Jockey) * 1995: "South of Cincinnati" / "Cut Me Out" (Thrill Jockey) * 1999: "Hellbound" / "Lorraine" (Thrill Jockey) * 2015: "The Asp & The Albatross" / "Fullerene" (Bloodshot Records)
===Compilations=== * 1993: ''Keep On The Sunny Side: A Tribute to the Carter Family'' (Amoeba Records) * 1999: "Picture in My Mind" - ''Alt.Country Exposed Roots'' (K-Tel Records) * 2019: "Sway" - ''Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots'' (Bloodshot Records)<ref name=WTTW_25th>{{cite web |publisher=WTTW |title=Chicago's Bloodshot Records Celebrates 25th Anniversary |author=Vitali, Marc |date=November 7, 2019 |url=https://news.wttw.com/2019/11/07/chicago-s-bloodshot-records-celebrates-25th-anniversary |accessdate=2019-11-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Bloodshot Records |title=Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots |date=2019 |url=https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/too-late-to-pray |accessdate=2019-11-26 |archive-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428124135/https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/too-late-to-pray |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2021: "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" - ''The Closing Time 2020'' - Janet Beveridge Bean & Sally Timms with the Pine Valley Cosmonauts (Virtue Cider)<ref name=PVC-ClosingTime_ChicagoReader2021-07-08>{{cite web| publisher=Chicago Reader| date=July 8, 2021| title=The Pine Valley Cosmonauts make Tom Waits's 1973 debut feel relevant for our times| author=Kendrick, Monica| url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-pine-valley-cosmonauts-make-tom-waitss-1973-debut-feel-relevant-for-our-times/Content?oid=90043617| accessdate=2021-07-18}}</ref>
===Catherine Irwin solo (partial)=== * 2003: ''Cut Yourself A Switch'' (Thrill Jockey) * 2012: ''Little Heater'' (Thrill Jockey)
===Janet Bean solo (partial)=== * 1992: ''Jesus Built A Ship To Sing A Song To'' - Jeff Lescher & Janet Beveridge Bean (released under the name "Jeff and Janet") (Megadisc) * 2004: ''Dragging Wonder Lake'' (Thrill Jockey)
===Freakons=== * 2021 ''Freakons'' (Fluff & Gravy Records)<ref name=Freakons_2021album/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Freakwater}} * [http://www.freakwater.net Freakwater] * [https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/artist/freakwater Freakwater] at Bloodshot Records * [http://thrilljockey.com/artists/freakwater Freakwater] at Thrill Jockey * [http://www.grunnenrocks.nl/bands/f/freakwat.htm Freakwater] at Grunnen Rocks * {{Discogs artist|Freakwater}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:American alternative country groups Category:American musical trios Category:Musical groups established in 1989 Category:Musical groups from Louisville, Kentucky Category:Country music groups from Kentucky Category:1989 establishments in Kentucky Category:Bloodshot Records artists Category:Thrill Jockey artists Category:Glitterhouse Records artists Category:City Slang artists