Biography
Freakwater emerged as one of the most tradition-rooted outfits in alternative country, notwithstanding the members’ alternative rock origins and their affiliation with a label primarily recognized for experimental releases. Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Ann Irwin, serving as singers, guitarists, and songwriters, combine their own compositions—marked by a contemporary lyrical outlook—with traditional covers, all rendered in a stripped-down acoustic country-folk manner anchored by intimate vocal harmonies. The ensemble’s arrangements regularly draw on string-band essentials including steel guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and Dobro, yielding pronounced Appalachian qualities that have repeatedly invited comparisons to the Carter Family.
The group began informally in Louisville, Kentucky; Irwin and Bean, both veterans of local punk bands, became roommates in 1982 and made their first public appearance together the following year. At the same time, Bean helped launch the noisy, Neil Young-influenced alt-rock band Eleventh Dream Day alongside boyfriend and eventual husband Rick Rizzo on drums; the pair soon relocated to Chicago, where they spent the late ’80s and early ’90s producing a succession of underappreciated yet critically praised albums. Bean and Irwin nevertheless sustained their occasional partnership, and in 1988 Amoeba label founder Keith Holland invited them to record.
Adopting the name Freakwater—a slang term for moonshine—the pair recorded a self-titled EP issued by Amoeba in 1989, a year prior to Uncle Tupelo’s landmark No Depression that ignited the alt-country wave. Upright bassist David Gay soon became the steady foundation of the duo’s instrumental support and stayed with them for the ensuing decade. Their debut full-length, Dancing Under Water, was finished in 1991, yet disputes with Holland resulted in Amoeba retaining the masters and withholding royalties from the duo. While Bean remained deeply engaged with Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater completed Feels Like the Third Time in 1993 and ultimately signed with Thrill Jockey, an independent imprint more commonly associated with avant-garde and often electronic artists. Thrill Jockey issued Feels Like the Third Time in 1995, the same year the band achieved its critical breakthrough with Old Paint. Capitalizing on heightened visibility during Eleventh Dream Day’s hiatus, Old Paint prompted numerous reviewers to acclaim Freakwater among the most genuine-sounding alt-country acts of the period. The group received an offer from Steve Earle’s Warner-affiliated label but declined in order to remain with Thrill Jockey.
Bean and Irwin reinforced their standing with 1998’s Springtime, which included contributions from multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston of Wilco. Although the sessions for 1999’s End Time proved challenging, the album earned further praise and marked the first collection consisting entirely of original material; it also expanded the band’s sonic palette through added instrumentation and the inclusion of a drum kit. Freakwater stayed largely inactive for several years, during which both Bean and Irwin focused on solo projects for Thrill Jockey: Irwin’s Cut Yourself a Switch appeared in late 2002, while Bean and her band the Concertina Wire released Dragging Wonder Lake in early 2003. In 2005 the duo reassembled with producer Tim Rutili and members of Califone to issue Thinking of You, extending the fuller ensemble approach first explored on End Time.
Following Thinking of You, Bean and Irwin each pursued understated solo work, even as Bean continued recording and performing with Eleventh Dream Day. Thrill Jockey reissued Feels Like the Third Time in 2012, prompting Bean and Irwin to mark the occasion with a reunion tour whose performances demonstrated that their distinctive vocal blend remained undiminished. After additional live engagements, Freakwater signed with the respected “insurgent country” imprint Bloodshot Records and, in February 2016, delivered Scheherazade—their first album in more than a decade.
The group began informally in Louisville, Kentucky; Irwin and Bean, both veterans of local punk bands, became roommates in 1982 and made their first public appearance together the following year. At the same time, Bean helped launch the noisy, Neil Young-influenced alt-rock band Eleventh Dream Day alongside boyfriend and eventual husband Rick Rizzo on drums; the pair soon relocated to Chicago, where they spent the late ’80s and early ’90s producing a succession of underappreciated yet critically praised albums. Bean and Irwin nevertheless sustained their occasional partnership, and in 1988 Amoeba label founder Keith Holland invited them to record.
Adopting the name Freakwater—a slang term for moonshine—the pair recorded a self-titled EP issued by Amoeba in 1989, a year prior to Uncle Tupelo’s landmark No Depression that ignited the alt-country wave. Upright bassist David Gay soon became the steady foundation of the duo’s instrumental support and stayed with them for the ensuing decade. Their debut full-length, Dancing Under Water, was finished in 1991, yet disputes with Holland resulted in Amoeba retaining the masters and withholding royalties from the duo. While Bean remained deeply engaged with Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater completed Feels Like the Third Time in 1993 and ultimately signed with Thrill Jockey, an independent imprint more commonly associated with avant-garde and often electronic artists. Thrill Jockey issued Feels Like the Third Time in 1995, the same year the band achieved its critical breakthrough with Old Paint. Capitalizing on heightened visibility during Eleventh Dream Day’s hiatus, Old Paint prompted numerous reviewers to acclaim Freakwater among the most genuine-sounding alt-country acts of the period. The group received an offer from Steve Earle’s Warner-affiliated label but declined in order to remain with Thrill Jockey.
Bean and Irwin reinforced their standing with 1998’s Springtime, which included contributions from multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston of Wilco. Although the sessions for 1999’s End Time proved challenging, the album earned further praise and marked the first collection consisting entirely of original material; it also expanded the band’s sonic palette through added instrumentation and the inclusion of a drum kit. Freakwater stayed largely inactive for several years, during which both Bean and Irwin focused on solo projects for Thrill Jockey: Irwin’s Cut Yourself a Switch appeared in late 2002, while Bean and her band the Concertina Wire released Dragging Wonder Lake in early 2003. In 2005 the duo reassembled with producer Tim Rutili and members of Califone to issue Thinking of You, extending the fuller ensemble approach first explored on End Time.
Following Thinking of You, Bean and Irwin each pursued understated solo work, even as Bean continued recording and performing with Eleventh Dream Day. Thrill Jockey reissued Feels Like the Third Time in 2012, prompting Bean and Irwin to mark the occasion with a reunion tour whose performances demonstrated that their distinctive vocal blend remained undiminished. After additional live engagements, Freakwater signed with the respected “insurgent country” imprint Bloodshot Records and, in February 2016, delivered Scheherazade—their first album in more than a decade.
Albums
