The title of Greg Freeman’s sophomore album Burnover refers to Western & Central New York’s burned-over district, a hub for the religious revivals and new religious movements of the early 19th century’s Second Great Awakening, named as such because the spiritual fervor of the era was said to have spread like wildfires. Greg himself grew up in the “cultural wasteland” of DC suburb Bethesda, Maryland, but he moved to Burlington, Vermont to attend UVM, where he studied religion and anthropology. As he’d drive around Vermont he’d find himself drawn to “these slightly tragic regional figures” like Joseph Smith, who moved his family from Vermont to the neighboring burned-over district around the time he founded Mormonism, as well as Revolutionary War figure and Vermont co-founder Ethan Allen, both of whom show up in Burnover‘s title track. “I wanted to write songs that made me understand Vermont and living where I did in the Northeast, but without having some kind of framework or lens that was only myself,” Greg said in a recent interview with The Line of Best Fit.
“I was conscious of the fact that I wasn’t trying to pretend like I was from somewhere that I’m not. It’s hard to write about a place that you’re not from. That creates a kind of tension in myself and maybe in the music, too.”
Greg also took influence from Nancy Rexroth’s classic photobook IOWA–which reveals itself not just in the music but also in the vintage-looking, black-and-white music video for opening track and lead single “Point and Shoot”–and Burnover often functions as a series of snapshots of the American, non-urban Northeast. There are frozen-over lakes, open roads, pastures of cows, and specified plant life, all conveyed with the hazy glow of old photos, faded memories, and scenic drive-bys. There’s a sense of longing and nostalgia in Freeman’s scene-setting that’s also there when he wonders if he and the subject of “Gallic Shrug” are “just two people who have too many yesterdays.” And then there are the moments that come startlingly into focus, like when Greg wrestles with human emotion (“If your heart’s not in it, then your heart’s not in it, then my heart’s not in it”), or when he turns a sly metaphor into one of the album’s most memorable one-liners (“I love the world but I think it’s too fucked up to drive!”).
Alongside peers like MJ Lenderman, Wednesday, Florry, and Ryan Davis, Greg’s been emerging as part of an exciting new crop of indie rock musicians who openly embrace country music and fill their songs with rural and small-town imagery. Like MJ Lenderman was early on, Greg was frequently compared to indie-country pioneer Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co) when he put out his 2022 debut album I Looked Out on the small DIY label Bud Tapes. The album’s slow-building, word-of-mouth buzz helped establish Freeman as an artist to watch in this space and helped him ink a deal with the larger Transgressive/Canvasback for Burnover. On the new album, comparisons to Molina and Lenderman are still helpful ways to recommend Greg Freeman’s music to someone but not something he ever sounds locked into. Burnover is just as likely to recall Pavement’s propulsive slacker rock (“Point and Shoot”), The Replacements’ scruffy bar rock (“Gulch”), and the experimental Americana of Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born (“Wolf Pine”).
Country and blues signifiers show up in the form of twangy pedal steel & slide guitar, jaunty pianos, and rustic harmonica. There’s also strings, horns, organ, Wurlitzer, glockenspiel, prepared guitar, melodica, harmony vocals (including from Merce Lemon and Lily Seabird), and eye-catching liner notes items like “barnyard sounds” and “rusty license plate.” Burlington’s jam band reputation is reflected in the skronky guitar solos and extended passages, and Freeman has so many sweet hooks to land back on that even jam-averse listeners won’t be able to accuse Burnover of being too meandering. So much is packed into these 10 filler-less songs that you can sort of just find in them whatever you’re looking for. If you’re excited by the recent country boom, on the hunt for catchy new singalongs, itching for the spontaneity of a lively jam, or hoping to have your faith restored in classic indie rock, Burnover might be just what you need. It hits all of those spots without going so far in one direction that it would turn off a fan of another.
Burnover is out 8/22 via Transgressive/Canvasback. Ahead of its release, Greg also took the time to dive into one of his most formative influences and tell us about his 5 favorite blues albums, and you can watch the video below to see what he had to say. All upcoming tour dates are listed below as well, including his run opening Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump tour (which hits NYC on October 15).
Also below check out pics (by Amanda Hatfield) of Greg’s recent set opening for This Is Lorelei at the Ruins at Knockdown Center in Queens.
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Greg Freeman — 2025 Tour Dates
Aug 30 – Dorset, UK – End of the Road Festival
Sept 1 – Brighton, UK – The Albert
Sept 2 – London, UK – The Lexington
Sept 3 – London, UK – Rough Trade East
Sept 5 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Sept 6 – Glasgow, UK – The Hug and Pint
Sept 7 – Dublin, IE – The Workmans Club
Sept 9 – Manchester, UK – YES
Sept 10 – Cardiff, UK – Clwb Ifor Bach
Sept 11 – Birmingham, UK – Hare and Hounds
Sept 13 – Utrecht, NL – Ekko
Sept 14 – Cologne, DE – Blue Shell
Sept 15 – Hamburg, DE – Molotow
Sept 17 – Stockholm, SE – Bar Brooklyn
Sept 18 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
Sept 19 – Berlin, DE – Lark
Oct 8 – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave #
Oct 9 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall #
Oct 10 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall #
Oct 11 – Toronto, ON – Danforth #
Oct 13 – Montreal, QC – Le Studio TD #
Oct 14 – Boston, MA – Royale #
Oct 15 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Steel #
Oct 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer #
Dec 1 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
Dec 2 – Austin, TX – 29th Street Ballroom
Dec 4 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
Dec 5 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
Dec 6 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
Dec 8 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
Dec 9 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Dec 11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
Dec 13 – Denver, CO – Globe Hall
Dec 15 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
Dec 16 – Nashville, TN – The Blue Room at Third Man Records
# supporting Grandaddy