Tom Freund

Tom Freund first appeared alongside Ben Harper on the limited release, vinyl-only record Pleasure and Pain in 1992. Since then, Freund has steadily released albums of his own, with five under his belt as of 2007. Working mainly in country and folk circles, Freund's music comes off as a sort of modern, more accessible Sweet Revenge-era John Prine, with a knack for lost Americana and loser-portraits, as well as arrangements that have drawn comparisons to Tom Waits. A multi-instrumentalist who did time in alt country band the Silos, Freund pays close attention to said arrangements, and even when a song he writes would sit well in the mainstream, accordions, dobros, elements of blues and western swing -- all kinds of respectable touches -- fill out the sound.