Steve Freund

Blues guitarist Steve Freund has performed across the United States, with appearances in cities such as New York and Chicago, yet he remains most closely identified with the San Francisco Bay Area. Born July 20, 1952, in Brooklyn, NY, he drew his earliest musical encouragement from his mother, a classical pianist, though he did not take up the guitar until roughly age 16. After relocating to Chicago in 1976, he began performing regularly with Sunnyland Slim; those engagements soon led to further work with blues figures including Hubert Sumlin, Big Walter Horton, Pinetop Perkins, Paul Butterfield, Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, and Little Charlie & the Nightcats. By the late ’90s he had established a steady residency at the San Francisco bar and club The Saloon, where he appeared most often alongside blues pianist Wendy DeWitt, and during the same period he released the albums Set Me Free, Romance Without Finance, C for Chicago, and I'll Be Your Mule.