Tom Freund (born August 28, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Freund's music consists of elements of

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

. Freund met

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

when he was attending

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. One of the Claremont Colleges, the college has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. Pitzer is k ...

in Claremont, California. In 1992 the duo released an album, ''Pleasure and Pain''. Not long after, he joined the alternative country group

The Silos The Silos is an American rock band formed by Walter Salas-Humara and Bob Rupe in New York City, United States in 1985. History Prior to starting the Silos, Salas-Humara had been a member of The Vulgar Boatmen, and Bob Rupe was in Florida ban ...

as their bassist, and moved to

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He released his debut solo album, ''North American Long Weekend'', in 1998 and has released albums on his own Surf Road Records since 2000. While releasing his own music, Tom has also contributed to albums by artists including

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

, and

Josh Kelley Joshua Bishop Kelley Sr. (born January 30, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter. Kelley has recorded for Hollywood Records, Threshold Records and DNK Records as a pop rock artist. His songs "Amazing" and "Only You" reached the top ten on the ...

. Some of his work, including "Copper Moon", appeared on the TV program ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', while other songs have appeared on

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

and Parenthood.

Early life

Tom attended

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Ce ...

and Greenwich High School. During high school, Tom was a member of the jazz ensemble as an upright bass player. He was also a member of the prestigious Tri-State McDonald's High School Jazz Ensemble, which landed him an audition with

Elizabeth Swados Elizabeth Swados (February 5, 1951 – January 5, 2016) was an American writer, composer, musician, and theatre director. Swados received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Origin ...

. Swados was impressed by his musical talents and cast Tom in her 1987 production of ''Swing'' as a part of the Next Wave festival at BAM. In the production, Tom played guitar, upright bass and sang both a solo number and as a member of the ensemble. After graduating high school, Freund immediately became involved in the Off Broadway theater scene while taking classes at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. During this time, Tom was also playing clubs in New York City and doing some TV music work. In 1991, Tom enrolled at

. Through a mutual friend, Freund met

. The two formed a duo and in 1992 released a record on Cardas Records entitled ''Pleasure and Pain''.

Career

The limited-release of ''Pleasure And Pain'' in 1992 helped launch both Freund and Harper's careers. Harper signed a record deal with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

while Freund spent several years playing bass with acclaimed roots-rock band

. In 1998, Freund released his solo debut, ''North American Long Weekend'', on the

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

subsidiary Red Ant Records. The record received an avalanche of critical accolades, most notably in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

in which

Ann Powers Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...

called it an "unexpected gem" and ranked it #3 in her year-end best-of poll. Following the release of ''North American Long Weekend'', Freund alternated between recording and touring behind his own discs, playing upright bass, electric bass guitar, and mandolin with the likes of British pub-rock great

and rising groove-soul sensation

Brett Dennen Brett Michael Dennen (born October 28, 1979) is an American folk/pop singer-songwriter from Central California. His seventh studio album, ''See the World'' was released in July 2021. Early life Dennen grew up in Central Valley, California in a s ...

. During this time, Freund became a favorite of NPR's Weekend Edition and performed live on

Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, ...

in 2000. In 2007, Freund released ''Hug Trees'', a children's record, "born out of a father finding himself composing songs for and with his daughter." The album consists of 11 tracks and featured collaborations with

Abra Moore Abra Moore (born June 8, 1969) is an American folk-styled rock singer-songwriter. Moore was a founding member of the Hawaiian rock band Poi Dog Pondering, but left to pursue a solo career after the group's move to Texas in the late 1980s. Her 19 ...

and

Victoria Williams Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multi ...

. The record also contains an eco-friendly motif and encourages kids to go outside and enjoy nature. Freund found influence for the funky "Freezedance" in the work of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. In regards to the album, Freund said, "I've been writing and making music for a long time. Becoming a father just added a beautiful new layer to the whole experience for me. On ''Hug Trees'', my daughter Delilah is my co-producer, my audience, my muse. We created these songs together over the last couple of years. It was very natural to just go ahead and make a record." A summer tour with Ben Harper helped rekindle the old friends' collaborative spirits, which led to Harper getting involved as producer of ''Collapsible Plans'', Freund's fifth full-length album. The album, released in 2008, also featured piano and vocal contributions from

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

on two tracks. In regards to the record, Freund has commented, "I wanted to make a record for a long time that really felt like 'a time and a place,' the way records used to be made." The song "Collapsible Plans (Sugar)" was performed live on

Last Call With Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''Th ...

in January 2009. In 2011, Tom released ''The Edge of Venice'' via Surf Road Records. The album was produced by John Alagia (who had previously work with the likes of

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

, and

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

) and featured nine new songs. ''The Edge of Venice'' was released in the wake of Freund's ''Fit To Screen'' EP, whose songs were featured on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's Parenthood. In 2012, Freund appeared in

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...

's film,

This Is 40 ''This Is 40'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. A " sort-of sequel" to Apatow's 2007 film '' Knocked Up'', the movie centers on married couple Pete (Rudd) and Debb ...

. ''Two Moons'', Tom's seventh studio record, was released in June 2014. In producing and co-engineering the album, Freund drew upon folk, rock, jazz and other roots sources for an urbane Americana sound. The 11 track album includes collaborations with

and

Serena Ryder Serena most commonly refers to: * Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player Serena may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre * ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime t ...

.The record was successfully funded through a

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

campaign. Although admitting to having some trepidations about going the crowd-sourcing route, Freund wound up a believer. "I'm very endeared by the Pledge experience," he confesses. "It showed me that people wanted to engage in it. That was moving for me and got me excited." To promote his album "Two Moons" Tom Freund toured in October and November 2014 in Europe as solo headliner (Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic and The Netherlands) and then subsequently opened for Brett Dennen in London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Madrid In 2015 Tom Freund opened three dates in the UK (London, Manchester, Birmingham) for Ben Harper.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Pleasure and Pain'' (as Ben Harper and Tom Freund) (1992, Cardas) * ''North American Long Weekend'' (1998, Red Ant) * ''Sympatico'' (1999, Freund) * ''Copper Moon'' (2004, Surf Road) * ''Hug Trees'' (as Tom Freund and His Friends) (2007, Tom Freund) * ''Collapsible Plans'' (2008, Surf Road) * ''The Edge of Venice'' (2011, Surf Road) * ''Two Moons'' (2014, Surf Road)

EPs

* ''L.A. Fundamentalist Music'' (2000, Surf Road) * ''Sweet Affection'' (2005, Surf Road) * ''Xmas in Texas'' (2008, Surf Road) * ''Fit To Screen'' (2009, Surf Road)

Live albums

* ''Stronghold Tapes: Live In Venica, CA'' (2013, Surf Road)

Compilation appearances

* ''A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd'' (2003, Stanley) (song: "

Fearless Fearless or The Fearless may refer to: Psychology * Lack of fear * Courage or bravery Film, television and audio Film * ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi * ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...

") * ''I. C. Independent Celebration, Vol. 1'' (2015, Birdstone Records) (songs: "Collapsible Plans (Sugar)" and "Summer Of '92")

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freund, Tom American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists Living people Pitzer College alumni 1968 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians The Silos members Greenwich High School alumni Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Horace Mann School alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state)