Freddie Stevenson
Encyclopedia
Freddie Stevenson is a singer-songwriter
from Edinburgh
.
artist
and potter
Charles Stevenson and children's television writer
and producer
Jocelyn Stevenson, co-creator of the popular programme Fraggle Rock
. Stevenson was educated at Harrow School
in north-west London
from 1993-1998 during which time he taught himself to play guitar before moving to RADA
to study drama.
and stage roles including Cambridge Spies
, in which he appeared briefly, and State Of Play, in which he was on-screen for just under thirty seconds. Latterly he toured both the UK and USA in Sir Peter Hall's 2003 & 2004 production of As You Like It
, which included significant runs at both Brooklyn Academy of Music
and the Los Angeles Music Center
, during which time he became involved in a long term relationship with co-star actress Rebecca Hall
.
of The Only Ones
in the middle of 2004. Culminating in a set of four well received acoustic demos, they began with a series of low key gigs around London and Edinburgh before embarking on a recording an acoustic EP that saw a limited release and was sold at live concerts, before being made available via the iTunes Music Store.
(Dave Matthews & Friends
, Emmylou Harris
, Steve Earle
, Bob Dylan
) on drums, Surjo Benigh (Ulf Lundell
) on bass, and Jan Petersson (Eric Bibb
, Odetta
) on keyboards. Recording sessions took place in Stockholm
and London
, and were mastered by Ted Jensen
at Sterling Sound, New York
.
Released in November 2006, Body On The Line mixes the original acoustic roots of Stevenson's music with multi-instrument sensibilities.
It has been speculated that the album's title may be a reference to a line of dialog spoken by Stevenson in State of Play
, in which his character refers to "a body on the line".
, Tennessee
at Ocean Way Studios without a particular aim other than to record some new music. Re-joining Stevenson was drummer Brady Blade
who suggested bass player Chris Donohue and multi-instrumentalist Phil Madeira
be included in the band. The sessions were recorded and mixed by Prince
's engineer
and producer
David Z.
. 19 songs were recorded by the group, with 15 of these ultimately being mixed at a second session in February 2007.
Although there was not an original intention to immediately release these new recordings, by the summer of 2007 it was clear the recordings had formed a cohesive album with stronger electric sensibilities than its predecessor. And after a third and final recording session took place in September 2007, without Perry, the album, now called All My Strange Companions, was deemed complete and ready for mastering. The album was released on 15 April 2008 in the US and later in 2008 in the UK and Europe. His tunes have already received praise from Variety and USA Today.
entry, that are then posted to his online blogs along with their accompanying lyrics.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
Early life
Stevenson is the eldest of three children born to ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and potter
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
Charles Stevenson and children's television writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
Jocelyn Stevenson, co-creator of the popular programme Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock is a children's live action puppet television program series created by Jim Henson. The central characters were a set of "Muppet" creatures called Fraggles. The show ran from January 10, 1983, to March 30, 1987, on CBC Television in Canada, ITV in the UK, HBO in the United States,...
. Stevenson was educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in north-west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1993-1998 during which time he taught himself to play guitar before moving to RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
to study drama.
Acting
Upon graduating from RADA in 2002, he appeared in a number of televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and stage roles including Cambridge Spies
Cambridge Spies
Cambridge Spies is a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies from 1934 to the 1951 defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union...
, in which he appeared briefly, and State Of Play, in which he was on-screen for just under thirty seconds. Latterly he toured both the UK and USA in Sir Peter Hall's 2003 & 2004 production of As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, which included significant runs at both Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
and the Los Angeles Music Center
Los Angeles Music Center
The Music Center is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall...
, during which time he became involved in a long term relationship with co-star actress Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress.In 2003, Hall won the Ian Charleson Award for her debut stage performance in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession...
.
Early song writing
Having always enjoyed writing songs and playing them to his friends, Stevenson eventually started collaborating with John PerryJohn Perry (musician)
John Perry is an English rock guitarist. He is most recognised for his involvement with the English new wave rock band, The Only Ones. Other bands in which he played include The Ratbites from Hell and Decline and Fall .Perry formed The Only Ones with Peter Perrett in 1976...
of The Only Ones
The Only Ones
The Only Ones are an English rock band. They were initially active in the late 1970s and were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the musical territory in between punk, power pop and hard rock, with noticeable influences from psychedelia...
in the middle of 2004. Culminating in a set of four well received acoustic demos, they began with a series of low key gigs around London and Edinburgh before embarking on a recording an acoustic EP that saw a limited release and was sold at live concerts, before being made available via the iTunes Music Store.
Body on the Line
In the summer of 2005, Perry introduced Stevenson to a group of Stockholm-based musicians comprising Brady BladeBrady Blade
Brady L Blade Jr. is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer, who currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden....
(Dave Matthews & Friends
Dave Matthews & Friends
Dave Matthews & Friends is an American jam band that was put together for a tour to support Dave Matthews' solo debut, Some Devil. Most of the musicians participated in the album's production...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) on drums, Surjo Benigh (Ulf Lundell
Ulf Lundell
Ulf Lundell is a Swedish writer, poet, songwriter, composer, musician and artist....
) on bass, and Jan Petersson (Eric Bibb
Eric Bibb
Eric Bibb is an American acoustic blues singer-songwriter. He is based in London and launched his career in Europe. Today he lives in Finland.-Biography:...
, Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
) on keyboards. Recording sessions took place in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and were mastered by Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen
Ted Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...
at Sterling Sound, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Released in November 2006, Body On The Line mixes the original acoustic roots of Stevenson's music with multi-instrument sensibilities.
It has been speculated that the album's title may be a reference to a line of dialog spoken by Stevenson in State of Play
State of Play
State of Play is a six-part British television drama serial directed by David Yates and written by Paul Abbott. The serial, first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, was produced in-house by the BBC in association with the independent production company Endor Productions...
, in which his character refers to "a body on the line".
Nashville sessions
Throughout the period of completing Body On The Line, Stevenson continued writing feverishly and new songs were regularly aired whilst touring in support of the first record. Shortly after the first LP's release in December 2006, Stevenson and Perry took residence in NashvilleNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
at Ocean Way Studios without a particular aim other than to record some new music. Re-joining Stevenson was drummer Brady Blade
Brady Blade
Brady L Blade Jr. is an American rock, pop and country drummer, record producer and composer, who currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden....
who suggested bass player Chris Donohue and multi-instrumentalist Phil Madeira
Phil Madeira
Phil Madeira is an American songwriter, producer, musician and singer from Nashville, Tennessee. He was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island and attended Taylor University, which he graduated from in 1975....
be included in the band. The sessions were recorded and mixed by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
David Z.
David Z.
David Z is a music producer, engineer, mixer, and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota who currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. He is most well known for his long-standing work with Prince, but has also contributed to award winning albums by Etta James, Billy Idol, BoDeans, Buddy Guy, Neneh...
. 19 songs were recorded by the group, with 15 of these ultimately being mixed at a second session in February 2007.
Although there was not an original intention to immediately release these new recordings, by the summer of 2007 it was clear the recordings had formed a cohesive album with stronger electric sensibilities than its predecessor. And after a third and final recording session took place in September 2007, without Perry, the album, now called All My Strange Companions, was deemed complete and ready for mastering. The album was released on 15 April 2008 in the US and later in 2008 in the UK and Europe. His tunes have already received praise from Variety and USA Today.
Blonging
In April 2008, Freddie Stevenson coined the term 'blong' to describe short, spontaneous songs written and recorded like a blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
entry, that are then posted to his online blogs along with their accompanying lyrics.
Discography
- EP (2004)
- Body on The Line (2006)
- All My Strange Companions (2008)