As 2025 comes to a close with numerous best-of-the-year lists piling up like dead leaves in the backyard, it’s become clear that it’s been a damn good one for Greg Freeman. The Vermont troubadour with a voice that defies pigeonholing has seemingly broken out, with his album Burnover landing major praise from the likes of The New York Times and Paste, among others. Freeman is part of a sort of newish wave of artists putting their own spin on the kind of alt-country that won over plenty of fans in the ’80s and ’90s. All of this acclaim and his status amongst this group that includes the likes of MJ Lenderman and Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band has clearly resonated, judging by the nearly sold-out crowd that packed into Portland, Oregon’s Mississippi Studios on a very rainy Tuesday, December 9th.
Throughout Freeman’s hour-long performance, the soft-spoken singer offered little banter other than introducing his bandmates and the occasional ‘thank you.’ This hardly mattered, as his songs spoke for themselves and seemed to carry even more musical weight in the live setting than the recordings. Kicking off with “Point and Shoot,” the unique dynamic of Cam Gilmour on saxophone, Ben Rodgers on pedal steel, and fiddle player Scott Daniel immediately set Freeman apart from his musical peers. With a voice that feels like an amalgamation of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and the late Jason Molina – sometimes all of those at once and sometimes individually – yet still sounding singular, Freeman served up a balance of songs from Burnover and his 2022 debut I Looked Out. “Salesman” was an early favorite with its cacophony of saxophone, fiddle, steel, and romping guitar all delivered with modest rock and roll swagger. “Rome, New York” also shone with Rodgers’ twang and the thick groove, giving it a hypnotic cosmic country power. This segued straight into “Gone (Can Mean A Lot of Things)” with Freeman laying down Neil Young-style riffage over the defiant lyrics, while “Long Distance Driver” carried the kind of mournful gothic darkness you might hear in a Jason Molina tune. “Come and Change My Body” offered up a contrast with Freeman’s bright harmonica, stomping beat, before the saxophone, fiddle, and guitar shimmered in harmony. They kept up the momentum on “Tower,” which pulsed with grungy post-punk energy and saw some of Freeman’s biggest guitar bustouts of the night. “Curtain” was also a favorite, bouncing along with alt-country greatness and feisty pedal steel, jazzy oboe, and loose jamming.
With just enough energy to keep the audience bobbing their heads along in appreciation, the band rounded into the final stretch with the moodier, gradually swelling tune “Sawmill” and the poignant lyricism of “Gallic Shrug.” “Colorado” hit like a frenetic marriage between Modest Mouse and Magnolia Electric Co. before the band wrapped their set by inviting a few local horn players to join on the haunting and atmospheric title track off Burnover, a proper bookend to a seamless performance. Amongst the current crop of indie folk rockers, Freeman possesses one of the more odd sounds, both in his delightfully warbling vocals and in his band’s choices of instruments and sounds. Onstage in Portland, this all came together into a cohesively entertaining showcase.
