Whether channeling psychedelic rock, guitar-driven blues, or traditional country ballads, everything Nat Freedberg does is about discovering the essence of the song. With Record Number Three, Freedberg and Grammy-winning producer Ducky Carlisle have crafted an auditory journey that, despite its genre-bending, resonates with a cohesive voice and vision.

Known for fronting the aristo-rock band The Upper Crust, Freedberg considers himself first and foremost a songwriter, but not in the conventional angst-over-a-blank-sheet-of-paper songwriter. Instead, he feels as if the songs’ DNA were beamed down to him, and they get some personal touches while he’s cleaning them off and making them presentable. “I just uncrate and assemble them,” Free berg said.

Working with some of Boston’s best players and members of the former Upper Crust (there may be some overlap there) Freedberg and associates put out two new albums in five months. Flavors of old-school soul, blues shouts, traditional country ballads and psychedelic rock weave through this last record, but throughout one finds first-class songwriting, memorable hooks, great playing from all involved, and a voice that is truly original.

Freedberg told Elmore “’If You’re Going To Heaven’ grew out of the guitar part in the verse; it sounded like a Memphis-style soul thing, and then it evolved into something I wanted to try to give to Mavis Staples. I loved the Staple Singers when I was growing up, one of the first things I ever bought was a 7″ of ‘Respect Yourself.’ I actually met her once, for about five seconds, in Chicago, and she was every bit as wonderful as I might have hoped.

The song has a religious theme, but not really… while I was writing it, the whole caravan thing was going on at the southern border, and I couldn’t believe how un-Christian the right-wingers were being in their hostility to people obviously in need. And I thought, Christ, how can you call yourself a Christian and have so little compassion? So it’s about making the world a little more heavenly by being kind to each other here and now, seeing past people’s ethnicity and culture, whether they’re doing well or not so well, whether they have a home or have been uprooted somehow, and helping people who need help.”

Record Number Three, to be released in February, 2020, features appearances from guitarist Duke Levine (Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter), singer-songwriter Hayley Thompson King, bassist Marc Hickox, and keyboardist Tom West (Peter Wolf, Tom Jones). “Tom West and I were actually grammar schoolmates,” explains Freedberg. “I was ten, he was a year older. He re-entered my life when Ducky brought him in for the Better Late sessions.”

Learn more about Nat Freedberg HERE

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