Hudson Freeman and His Traveling Band Are Touring Across the Country with a New Perspective

In just a few months, the world has completely changed before the eyes of Hudson Freeman. May 29th marks one year since the release of the Brooklyn-based lofi folk artist’s third record, is a Folk Artist. Shortly after that, Freeman began posting snippets playing “If You Know Me”, a tasteful, touching, and twangy track that sounds like a folk classic, and has cemented itself as one. Those videos blew up time and again, and brought a huge audience in on what Freeman has to say. This spring, Freeman embarked on a tour across the US, and Atlanta was lucky enough to host him at The EARL on March 27th.

Hudson Freeman at The EARL (Photo: Magali Rivera)

is a Folk Artist is “folk music by alternative means”, as one of Freeman’s Instagram captions reads in promotion of the record. It’s an album that feels more than carefully thought out: it knows when to pull back, when to go full out, when and how to say the right thing, even at the apprehension of the lyric itself. Beyond the sublime lofi ambience and fluttering guitar, Freeman’s gloomy songwriting and vocals are what set this work apart. On “Good Faith”, Freeman croons:

I swear we’re both still stuck on Jesus

So don’t tell me that’s the thing

I just don’t think there’s a hell, man

At least besides the one we keep

Not in good faith

With its poignant lyricism and moving production, is a Folk Artist is the perfect record for new fans of Freeman to find out that he has already released. Since then, new releases include “If You Know Me” as a single, with a stunning B-side cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”, as well as Adult Contemporary, an EP that was put out the day of the Atlanta show, and created alongside musician The Bedroomer.

Hudson Freeman at The EARL (Photo: Magali Rivera)

Last Friday on March 27th, Hudson Freeman and his band took to the stage at The EARL in Atlanta. It was crowded and fans were beaming to see them. The band shuffled through songs like “Dean” and “Killing Time”, as well as some gripping unreleased ones, all with the same, if not more, shine than is present on his recorded tracks. He seemed excited to play tunes from his freshly released EP including “Somehow” and “Stolen Valor”.

Before covering it, Freeman shared that the song “Martha Sways” by Andy Shauf was one that he deeply admired the songwriting on and inspired him to hone his own skills upon listening. He carried himself with a cool confidence in playing each track, and his drummer, upright bassist, and slide guitar player all followed suit.

Ruby Plume, the singer-songwriter from Nashville, opened up for Freeman, and definitely impressed the crowd with her singing and songwriting chops for the first time in Atlanta. Her debut EP, Spinstress, was released in January, with standout tracks including “Cobalt Blue" and “Cherrypick”. With it, she has also been making waves of her own in the alternative music scene. Between Freeman and Plume, the future of folk is in the safest and warmest of hands.

Ruby Plume at The EARL (Photo: Magali Rivera)

This is one of those bills that I will assuredly look back on and be grateful I got to see: these artists at this point in their blossoming careers at this very venue. One can only imagine how equally overwhelming and enthralling it has been for Freeman these past couple months, to see his music career grow into something of dreams seemingly overnight. Years of hard work and honed talent, though, has brought him to this point, and with opening spots for Mumford & Sons and Jesse Welles coming up, his fanbase will surely continue to grow.