You’ve probably heard that "the second time’s a charm." While it’s not always the case, for Vermont musician Greg Freeman, it loudly rings true.
In 2022, the Vermont musician released I Looked Out—an album that won over critics and listeners alike with its signature blend of storytelling, infectious horns, and a spate of gnarly guitar riffs. And it didn’t need an elaborate PR blitz or a major label’s deep pockets to make waves; the music spoke for itself and found an audience looking for more.
Fast forward: Greg’s got a shiny new record deal with Canvasback/Transgressive Records. To celebrate this new union, they are reissuing I Looked Out, and this time, there’s something extra that wasn’t available before: a vinyl variant. So, if you loved the album the first time but thought, "This would sound fabulous on vinyl," now’s your chance to spin it in style. But, it’s not only vinyl: there are also two bonus tracks to enjoy.
Join Greg and me as we dive into the album, discuss how he views his growth in just a few years, and investigate how important having his music ingrained on a black piece of plastic is to him. If you missed his album the first time around, as I did, take my word for it: the hype was real.
Evan Toth: The re-release of I Looked Out has made quite the splash, debuting at #12 on the SubModern charts. Did you expect this kind of response, or is the success still sinking in for you?
Greg Freeman: I'm happy that people like the songs! It's been a fun and challenging task of re-releasing the last album while finishing a new one. I feel proud to have found a label that truly believes in my music.
ezt: You’ve signed with Canvasback/Transgressive Records—what does this partnership mean to you? What else has the new record label brought to the table for this re-release? Has there been any other remixing or remastering of the tracks that make them different from the ones people may already be familiar with?
gf: Canvasback/Transgressive has been very enthusiastic and collaborative with how I want the record to be re-released. I had fun making the artwork for the back of the vinyl and the
insert/lyrics sheet inside. We kept the mixing and mastering the same as before. Besides the
bonus tracks, my friend Noah Kesey mixed I Looked Out with me and my friend Dan Rome
mastered it, both here in Burlington.
ezt: Your album has been available digitally for some time now, yet you really wanted this to be on vinyl. Why is the vinyl format so important to you, how does it serve to transmit the project in a way that digital can’t?
gf: Well, I can sell it at shows. Selling music feels more dignified than selling t-shirts. I grew up on records. My dad would take me to Joe's Record Paradise in Silver Spring, MD. That's where I discovered music.
ezt: Your debut was released with no PR campaign or label support but still received rave reviews from places like Stereogum and Uproxx. What did it feel like to have that kind of recognition, especially when you didn’t have the traditional machinery behind it? What were the grassroots efforts that you may have put together to get the record out the first time it was released?
gf: When it came out, my band played a release show at the Radio Bean here in Burlington, and opened up for our friends Thus Love in Brattleboro, Vermont. Only a few months later did Alicia Maciel (who went on to become my good friend), reach out to me about playing a show in Chicago. I realized there was interest outside of Burlington and put a tour together. I had already toured a lot with Lily Seabird and had friends in different cities who helped me book shows. Also, my friend Emmett (who runs Bud Tapes in Portland, OR) helped me put the record out on Tape. They were really supportive early on of the album.
ezt: Now that you're re-releasing I Looked Out with two bonus tracks, what’s it like looking back on this album? Do you still identify with those songs as much as you did when you first wrote them?
gf: I still identify with the songs, yeah. There’s some things I'd do differently, but I feel proud of how the songs turned out. Noah was a great collaborator on the album and did a great job leading the mixing process.
ezt: This re-release features a new version of “Long Distance Driver (Acoustic).” You mentioned the harmonica instead of sax and the absence of drums. How did you decide on those choices, and what kind of emotional impact were you hoping to evoke with this sparser version of the track?
gf: I was gifted this cool old double reed harmonica. Its got a kind of haunting accordion-like
sound. It worked perfectly for the acoustic version. I wanted the acoustic version to sound
in-line with the rest of the album; not too clean. We recorded it live through tape at Mr. Smalls studio in Pittsburgh. It was a great and easy experience.
ezt: I really love how you implement horns throughout the album. I’m sure you found that it takes much more planning and arranging to pull off, but it gives the album a much bigger, polished sound. Where did the inspiration for horns come from and how do you deal with that on the road?
gf: I'm lucky to have a number of amazing horn playing friends in Burlington. My first few solo projects I worked on long ago I’d have like 10 stacked horn parts at any given time. I realized you could just keep adding them and it would sound cooler and cooler. I’ve been collaborating with my sax player Cam Gilmour for many years. He’s got a great live setup. Running through pedals and such. It’s like a 2nd guitar or something. Billy Weaver and Sam Atallah have also played great horns for me throughout the years.
ezt: The track “Sound Tests, Scraps, Lists” is an interesting concept. What inspired you to create a mashup of sounds, songs, and snippets from the recording process? How do you think listeners will connect with this chaotic but intimate peek behind the curtain?
gf: It was all I had left of the album. I didn’t want to just keep recording new material for a 2 plus year old album. But I did find all these bits and pieces of ideas I made just for fun, or things I gave up on. I stitched them together and I thought it ended up being a interesting little companion piece to the album.
ezt: How do the landscapes and vibe of your home state of Vermont influence your sound? Are there any specific elements of the state you’ve tried to capture musically, or do you feel it’s more of a subconscious influence? I do notice Asbury Park on the album cover, however!
gf: I am interested in the regional ethos and history. I explore that way more on the new album. The songs on I Looked Out are more subconsciously influenced by Vermont, by the cold, by the smallness of everything. My dad grew up in Jersey, hence Asbury. I grew up in Maryland. I like messing with the sense of place, conflating this and that, because that's how I feel, in terms of my own identity. I'm from a place I don't connect to anymore, my parents weren’t from Maryland either. They just moved there before I was born. I had no real cultural heritage that's been passed down to me. I hate the suburbs. I had to create a community on my own once I got out. It's a modern experience, growing up in a community that you don't really have a historic connection to, that was, in the not too distant past, stolen from someone else. If you ask an Indigenous American what “Live Free of Die” means to them, you’d probably get a very different answer than someone that moved to New England to go to college.
ezt: It’s been said that your music blends noisy art-rock with Americana, a genre fusion not everyone can pull off. The Americana tag can be tricky for people who might ask the question, what really is Americana. What’s your relationship with that moniker?
gf: I’m not sure. I mean don’t people first think of The Band or Neil Young when they think of
Americana? Those are Canadians. But that's fitting because being “American” oftentimes feels like an act, like something that's not quite fair, or at least not what it seems. I try to be honest with my music, about my influences and instincts, but maybe that's not what I should strive for.
ezt: You’ve been praised for your ability to fuse seemingly disparate genres, but is there ever a moment when you wonder if critics and fans are overanalyzing your work? Do you sometimes wish they’d just sit back and enjoy it without trying to label everything?
gf: There are people that have mixed genre’s way more than me. In much more experimental ways. If you like it then you like it. I don't know.
ezt: Your upcoming London and New York shows are a big deal, especially your London debut. What are you most excited about for these upcoming performances, and what can fans expect from these live shows that might differ from what’s on the album?
gf: I'm playing with a great London band that I'm hiring out there. I'm stoked. No idea what its gonna be like. Its simply too expensive to fly my full band out to play 3 shows. But I love playing with new people and am open to off-the-cuff arrangements. So I think it will be cool.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
1/14 - London UK - Servants Jazz Quarters
1/15 - London UK - LOBF Show w/ Greg Mendez
1/16 - London UK - Rough Trade West - Solo Acoustic + Vinyl Signing
1/24 - New York, NY - Night Club 101 w/ Ekko Astral
1/25 - New York NY - Union Pool w/ Ekko Astral
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