By BISS List Contributing Editor, Josh Danson 

Tom Freund + Friends will be playing the night of Friday, January 31st in the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads, (ages 16+) doors 7pm / show 8pm, $18 advance / $20 day of show. Click here to buy tickets. To win tickets to this show through BISS List enter the contest and share the event with your friends 
Check out our previous BISS List interview with Tom Freud collaborator Wally Ingram .

I recently spoke to singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Tom Freund on the phone while he navigated the freeways of West LA, familiar tuf for the Venice-based musician that has served as both grist and backdrop for much of his creative output. Freund has played as a sideman with bands like the influential early Alt-Country act The Silos, and on projects with his good friend Ben Harper and others, but mostly he has focused on the craft of writing and performing his own songs. His songs – sometimes elegiac, sometimes uplifting, oftentimes a combination of the two – reflect his appreciation of good times, his recognition of challenges overcome and of the middle ground we most often exist in, somewhere between a state of grace and a fall from one. 

According to his friend and frequent collaborator, the acclaimed drummer/percussionist : “Some 15+ years ago a dear friend of mine handed me a cassette of a very special performance that he had recorded while mixing sound at a fundraiser/benefit event in Santa Monica CA. He prefaced it by saying, ‘Wally, you’ve got to hear THIS guy…. he’s my new favorite songwriter.’ On the recording Tom Freund sang a song in tandem with Victoria Williams who literally phoned in her vocal via cell phone held up to a microphone on stage. The recording was magical, heartfelt and tearjerking. Victoria is a very dear friend of mine and she was slated to be there that evening but couldn’t attend because she was too sick with an ongoing illness. I recently listened to that song entitled, “Can’t cry hard enough,” in the wake of the tragic loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others, and it still goes right to the heart, like so much of Tom’s music. When I first met Tom, we immediately became fast friends and I cherish every opportunity that we get to play together. When I was in my battle with cancer some 14 years ago, I was able to accompany that same duo of Tom and Vic Williams to open another benefit concert event called, “BEAT IT WALLY”. This benefit happened to be for me, to help in my fight against cancer – 4 1/2 hours of music in my honor that not only helped me pay medical bills but nurtured my soul and inspired me to fight on and not give up! Tom and I have been wingmen for each other ever since.” 

In addition to writing and performing his own music (more than a dozen album’s-worth), Freund is a multi-instrumentalist who is at home on a mind-boggling array of instruments, including: Guitar, mandolin, ukulele, piano, bass and upright bass. He has written a children’s album (Hug Trees) and his songs have been featured on TV series such as Better Things, Parenthood and One Tree Hill, as well as the animated Amazon series, Pete The Cat. If you like The Wood Brothers, Wilco, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tom Petty or Van Morrison, chances are you will like Tom Freund. 

This Friday, Tom will be joined at Terrapin Crossroads by his good friend Wally Ingram (drums/percussion), along with Lebo (Dan Lebowitz) and Steve Adams from ALO – and special guest Phil Lesh. Chris Haugen and friends will play an opening set and there promises to be considerable interplay between the openers and headliners, with numerous sit-ins on either side.

Interview minimally edited and condensed for length and clarity.

BL: You’re playing Terrapin Crossroads this coming weekend with a great crew of Bay Area musicians. For readers who may not be familiar with your sound, or who may have only seen you playing solo, what should they expect to hear from this ensemble?

TF: We’re going to play a bunch of material from all my records, including the last one called East of Lincoln [Surfroad Records, 2018], but we’re also going to do some funky covers and some jamming will ensue, for sure. There’ll be a mix of stuff. I’ll be playing bass, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, electric guitar… and of course Lebo and Steve you know. Lebo will be playing pedal steel and also some guitar, Steve will be playing some great electric bass. And obviously Wally on drums and percussion. 

BL: So, you’re bringing the full arsenal?

TF: Yeah, we’re unleashing the full arsenal! And there should be some sit-ins as well. My buddy Chris Haugen is going to be opening the show, so we’re going to sit in on each other’s sets. And I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to announce it yet, but there might be another big sit-in [It’s official! TxR has announced that Phil Lesh will be sitting in]. It’ll be a good mix. There will be some moody stuff but also some more danceable tunes. We definitely like to bring some of the jam world into it. 

BL: Have you played with Lebo and those guys before?

TF: I played with them first with Brett Dennen. Steve and I were both in Brett’s band and I was opening up and also traveling with Brett as the slide guitarist and mandolin player. So that’s when I first met Steve, on Brett Dennen tour. And then with Lebo – ALO had me sit in at The Troubador a couple times. They knew that I was from LA, so they called me up to do some encores with them, which was so much fun. What a powerhouse to be invited to come jump into, it’s was like a dream. So Lebo and I stayed in touch after that and we ended up playing a thing called the Spring Fling out in West Marin. Lebo, Steve and Wally jammed with me there. Then we did the bar at Terrapin – two full sets at the bar – and now they’ve invited me to come back and play the Grate Room. So I’m very excited. 

BL: You have a long history of friendship and collaboration with Ben Harper. How did you guys first meet and what is it about each other’s music, or musical sensibilities, that you’ve found to be so complimentary? 

TF: We first met in Claremont when I was going to school at Pitzer College. He was working at his family’s Folk Music Center. We had a mutual friend who said, “You guys gotta’ meet.” So we did and we ended up really hitting it off. Then we each did our own things for a while. I went out on the road with a band called The Silos, and he started making his first record for Virgin. But we were writing a lot of music together and then we did our first recording together, a vinyl called Pleasure and Pain, recorded in 1992 and issued in 1993 on Cardas Records. That was our first album. We did a couple of my originals and some covers. Just two guitars and one microphone, direct-to-tape, so to speak. So that was super cool and it became something of a collector’s item. Like a crazy eBay item, and also Napster was going nuts for it. I don’t know how much it helped my career or anything [laughs], but it was cool to see it bubbling so much, doing its thing because Ben was blowing up at the time. 

BL: Has it ever been reissued?

TF: Yeah, if you look up Cardas Records, you’ll see they reissued it on vinyl. We’ve never done anything other than vinyl with it, but there may be a European release of it this year, on CD or digital or something. 

So, Ben and I stayed in touch over the years and did a bunch of tours together where I’d be opening up for him and then sitting in together on stage. Then he produced my record Collapsible Plans, in 2009, I think. It was great to get in the studio with him, in addition to playing together a lot, to have him as producer was great. And we had some other mutual friends on there, like Jackson Browne who came in and played with us, which was crazy. So that was a fun album to make and some people’s favorite record of mine. Then I’ve done some stuff with him as well where he’s had me come in and play on some records he’s produced. So it’s been good. We’re still in touch. In fact, I just played the Claremont Folk Center – where we first met – I played there right before Christmas and he showed up and we did a whole set together. Surprised everyone and it was really cool. Just a lot of great memories there. He’s on the latest record too (East of Lincoln). He does a couple guest spots on there; on a song called “Abandoning the Ship,” he sings on that, and then he plays guitar on one called “Dream On.”

BL: You wrote and released a children’s record, Hug Trees, in 2007, on which you credited your daughter Delilah as your co-creator and muse. I imagine that must’ve been a very meaningful project for you. Talk a little about how being a father has influenced your songwriting and musical evolution. 

TF: Yeah, that’s right! Actually, I think I credited her as Executive Producer. I didn’t even necessarily intend to make a kids’ record, I just started playing songs for her from birth to about four years old, pretty much non-stop, and I started recording a few of them, putting them down on memo recordings and all of a sudden I was like, “Oh sh*t, I’ve got a record! We’ve got to do something with this.” She was definitely the muse and she still is the executive producer of my life. She’s the bomb. And I would say that Hug Trees is perfect for kids from about age one to 10. 

The whole thing about having my daughter is just how everything got bigger. My whole world got bigger. A bigger love to be experienced. With that, of course, there’s also a lot of hard work. It’s like the daddy Olympics, I call it. You have to deal with some major crazy sh*t, but at the same time you’re dealing with a bigger circle of love, so it’s beneficial. She influenced me obviously on the kids record, but also just had an overall softening effect on me. And seeing the world through a child’s eyes again is totally helpful as a writer. And I just love listening to music with her and finding common bonds there. She’s going through a whole Bowie, Led Zeppelin phase right now and I’m having the best time finding stuff for her to listen to. And then she turns me on to stuff… like Billie Eilish. She turned me on to Panic at the Disco and we both simultaneously got hooked on Vampire Weekend and went to see them. So now we’re going to concerts together, which is super cool. I took her to a Squeeze concert a little while ago and now she loves Squeeze. So that’s been real fun. And I’m not joking about the Executive Producer thing, like recently during the recording of East of Lincoln I was asking her about which mix should I go with.

BL: You’ve been widely credited as a creative and original singer-songwriter, but you’re also a multi-instrumentalist who has played with a number of other artists going back to your work with the Silos and including folks like Brett Dennen, Graham Parker and of course Ben Harper. Which do you see yourself more as, a songwriter/composer, or primarily as a performer or supporting artist? And which do you derive the most joy from?

TF: That’s a great question. I think at some point I had to make a decision. When I first started out playing bass and singing backup with The Silos, and I was getting a lot of studio gigs – as a bass player, some guitar, some mandolin – I was realizing, “Wow, I could really do this.” I loved it, but I also had a burning desire to put out all the stuff that was bubbling up to the front of my brain, like I couldn’t stop writing stuff. So, at that point I realized I kind of had to focus on my own… I mean, I didn’t give up anything. I’m always open to do anything and play on anyone’s stuff that I like, but I realized I had to really forge ahead into singer-songwriter mode. I don’t actually like that designation, “singer-songwriter,” but it’s a good term for describing a craft. I mean, that’s what I do. But I don’t like what it’s come to imply, it sounds kind of boring. But in terms of, “What is your craft?” It makes sense. I’m a singer-songwriter. 

So, I had to get in that mode – to write, dig deeper, find my own sound. I think in the end I’ve actually managed to do both simultaneously, but there is a difference. I think if I just went into being a studio player, and/or touring musician for other folks I think I could’ve really pursued that. I really do. I would’ve pursued it at another level and really gone for that. But I think I had to make a decision at a certain point, that while I like doing that, it’s more important for me to be doing my own thing. But I totally relate to, you know, all my “besties” who are players. Like I used to do jazz and I was really into big band jazz growing up and the idea of getting a new batch of songs and having to learn them for something. I still have the player mentality – I guess you’d say the “side-guy” – I think I still have that kind of side-guy mentality, but I push myself up to the front, so to speak. 

BL: Cool that you still get to do some one-off gigs with guys like the cast of characters you have coming up at Terrapin, with folks like Lebo who can step to the front as well, and take turns in that role. 

TF: Yeah, I like doing that. And I like the idea of playing in a band. It’s been hard not having a regular band to play with, but it’s also a blessing because… look at this weekend and who I get to play with. It’s bonkers. I didn’t bring my regular band up but I’m playing with the Bay Area’s finest, so it’s going to be a real treat.

And I’m really lucky in that way. I have the same thing in Austin, Texas – I can fly in and play with some of the best players in Auston. And New York City. I kind of have my troops everywhere. Even in Switzerland. So even while I don’t necessarily have the ability to fly my own regular troupe around, there’s something really cool about having these great people that I can link up with when I go to these different cities. And I know I’m lucky; I don’t take that for granted. 

BL: Well, Wally spoke very highly of you when I had a chance to speak with him last week. 

TF: Oh man, that’s very cool. He’s been really great. We met a long time ago. One of the first hangs was for that “Beat it Wally” thing where we all got together to help him in his fight against cancer, really a coalition of people, and we did an incredible number there. Just so many people who loved him and came to his support. It was just a magical time. 

BL: OK, this is the “desert island discs” question… If you had to pick your ONE favorite album, or the album that had the greatest impact or strongest influence on you, what would it be? Or if one is too restrictive, you can give me a top 3.

TF: Oh no! Jesus. OK. Well, it’s not really reflective of my music, but for a desert island disc I would say Joni Mitchell, Hejira (1976, Asylum Records). And then pretty much any Led Zeppelin Record, but probably Led Zeppelin 3. Or, The Beatles, I guess I would go with the White Album. Although Sgt. Pepper’s didn’t suck either. Neither did Zeppelin 2 [laughs]. Or Physical Graffiti. Or any Dylan album…

BL: Right?? I’m a huge fan of the Band, so I’d have to put one of theirs up there. 

TF: Oh man! Of course. And then there’s Van Morrison. In fact, if I got a fourth, I might have to put Tupelo Honey up there. 

BL: Done. Well, thanks for speaking with me and I look forward to seeing you and the guys up at Terrapin this coming Friday!