''Freeman'' is the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut and only studio album by American rock band

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

Background

Aaron Freeman Aaron Freeman (born June 8, 1956) is an American journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist, and blogger. Career During the 1990s, Freeman was the host of the weekly informational radio program ''Metropolis'' which was broadcast in the ...

left

Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are ...

in May 2012. He played shows both solo and accompanied by Joe Young from 2012-2014. After moving to

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

and teaching at Paul Green's

School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. Bl ...

, Freeman began working on material for a new album. He assembled musicians from the

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

area as well as

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to record the album for Partisan Records. The new band, "Freeman" hit the road in July 2014 in support of the album. The live version of Freeman featured Joe Young on bass and Zach Tenorio-Miller on keyboards, along with Chris Boerner and Kyle Keegan, who played on the album. ''Freeman'' was produced by Chris Shaw who had previously produced Ween's ''

White Pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diam ...

'' album.

Reception

''Freeman'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "If anything, ''Freeman'' is a tighter record than ''

McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

'' -- it's not homemade, it's all complete songs -- but there's no denying it shares the same spirit; that it is the sound of breaking dawn of a new day."

Track listing

Personnel

* Aaron Freeman - composer, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, synthesizer, primary artist * Dave Godowsky - co-composer (tracks 2 & 3), acoustic guitar, organ, piano, vocals * Chris Boerner - electric guitar * Brad Cook - bass * Kyle Keegan - percussion * Chris Shaw - producer, engineer *

Marco Benevento Marco Benevento (born July 22, 1977) is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording e ...

- organ, piano, Wurlitzer *

Tracy Bonham Tracy Bonham (born March 16, 1967) is an American alternative rock musician, best known for her 1996 single "Mother Mother". Raised in Eugene, Oregon, Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist, and is also a self-taught guitarist. S ...

- vocals, violin *The Black Bush Boys - percussion * Greg Calbi - mastering *

Paul Q. Kolderie Paul Q. Kolderie is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. He has worked with Pixies, Radiohead, Orangutang, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., Juliana Hatfield, Wax, Warren Zevon, Uncle Tupelo, Throwing Muses, Morphine, the Mighty Mighty Bosstone ...

- mixing * Nick LaVecchia - cover photo * Zeynep Sankaynagi - drawing

References

{{Authority control Freeman (band) albums 2014 debut albums