Hudson Freeman
“If You Know Me”
Self-released
A jangly piece of Americana that harkens back to decades ago but likely would’ve never found an audience without social media.
That’s the story of Hudson Freeman, whose “If You Know Me” has been floating through my Instagram algorithm. The first time I heard those opening lines, I knew Freeman had something special running through the DNA of his music.
“If you know me like you say you do / you’d be humming along, you’d be singing the tunes”
There’s a deep desire to be heard in Freeman’s vocal -- a bit of rasp, a bit of desperation. It’s a quality that gets me every damn time. The simple, slightly warped guitar tone pushes it along, before some minor distorted elements start padding out a sonic backdrop to the whole track. A commanding fiddle carries it home by the end.
If we take the song at face value, none of us have an idea of who Freeman is yet. He’s part of a generation of alternative folk artists who are using social media to give a platform to their work. Where a lot of folks would commonly associate the latest pop star to have their hook ringing through your algorithm, there’s been a pendulum swing to that, with artists like Freeman finding an audience or older songs from artists like Radiohead and Deftones finding a new, younger audience through the feed.
“If You Know Me” is just starting to gain traction, so it’s exciting to see what heights Freeman and his music will reach. A recent 7” pressing of the song (featuring a delightfully grungy take on the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” on the b-side) sold out fast, so the fans are already lining up.
You can tell the late adopters that you heard about Hudson Freeman here first.
