LSAF After Show: Greg Freeman w/ Case Oats + Hemlock

Greg Freeman deals in biblical deluges, apocalyptic fever dreams, Floridian miscreants, and green mountain malaise. On his excellent debut LP “I Looked Out,” Gregs’s voice takes center stage, creaking, crooning, and cutting through clouds of static. The songs are linked together by a palpable urgency, whether it is the punch-in-the-face, careening momentum of “Tower,” the country-gazing guitar squall of “Souvenir Heart,” or the singalong finale of “Palms.” Careful arrangements and production choices bring out the best of the 7-piece band that ornament the album with pedal steel, horns, eerie strings, and tape warbles.

Case Oats is the musical outlet of Casey Gomez Walker. Her songs mine Midwestern life: an upbringing in Missouri, sickly sweet relationships, the joys and tragedies of friendship, and even true crime. She weaves these themes together without a hint of pretension and delivers them in her earnest, heart-pulling voice. Walker is joined by Max Subar (guitar and pedal steel), Scott Daniel (fiddle), Chet Zenor (guitar), Jason Ashworth (bass), and Spencer Tweedy (drums). Her debut album is expected in 2023. hemlock is the “phone-fi” bedroom folk project of swamp-raised musician Carolina Chauffe and various rotating collaborators, currently based in Chicago, IL. Bare-boned and bittersweet, this is means-to-an-end modern-day folk art for the open-hearted, often accompanied by intimate field recordings, and erring on the side of imperfect, eager, prolific.