Reverend Freakchild - A Bluesman Of Sorts (2025)

Does the musically devout trafficker in fine vintage blues known, or perhaps formerly known, as the Reverend Freakchild still play and sing among us? The simplest answer to that question is yes. And no.

Although that contradiction is just the kind of paradoxical dichotomy the Rev would likely revel in, it may explain the parallel existence of his two self-penned “obituaries,” written 12 years apart as album liner notes. The first proclaimed the Rev's demise on 2013's “Chaos & Country Blues.” Apparently ineffective, that obituary gets new life on Freakchild's latest release, A Bluesman Of Sorts, that he describes as a “posthumous retrospective collection.” The album lists its producer as Sal Paradise, who was Jack Kerouac's narrator in Kerouac's trippy novel “On The Road,” and is apparently one of Freakchild's alternate realities, as he refuses to limit himself to merely one on this cosmic plane.

So, yes, and no can both be correct, as Freakchild or his blues doppelganger offers up this two-album set of nineteen songs – a few previously unreleased originals, some old favorites, some classics, and some remixes of previously released material. For all of his other worldliness as a Buddhist bodhisattva, the Rev is a righteous singer, songwriter and guitarist who works in the traditional country blues format and beyond, to "capture the chaotic coherence and the spirit of a tune," he says.

The Rev's music often defies description when it explores other astral modes, but his blues are a solidly down-to-earth musical vision with vocals rich in historic tradition. The opener on Disc 1 is the gently rhythmic “Green and Brown Blues,” previously unreleased, with Freakchild adding lyrical harp to a stripped-down trio of John Robinson on bass and Patrick Carmichael on drums with a plaintive message: “Yeah I got a million things on my mind, but I still don’t know what to do.”

The furious drive of “Chevrolet” shifts the mood with another unreleased track fueled by rolling organ riffs, adapted by Lonnie and Ed Young in 1959 from the 1930 Memphis Minnie song, “Can I Do It For You.” – “I buy you a '57 Chevrolet... just to do somethin' for you.” The Robert Johnson pleading “Come On In My Kitchen,” gets a masterful guitar solo from the Rev, who channels Johnson's eerie vocals to match the thunderstorm sound effects intro. Muddy Waters' “I Can’t Be Satisfied” gets a hard-driving Stones-like update. “Roll and Tumble Blues” is another classic blues by Hambone Willie Newbern from 1929 that gets the Freakchild treatment. The starkly gospel-tinted “Jesus Just Left Chicago” finds The Rev testifying with his National Steel guitar and irreverent lyrics, followed by the sly testimony of“Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven” -- “Everybody wanna go to heaven but nobody wanna die.”

The Freakchild original “A Day Late and A Dollar Short” finds him bemoaning his financial plight to a rollicking backbeat, while a world-weary vocal on the slow blues of “Rattling Cages” finds him locked up for being one toke over the line. “Dust Radio,” previously unreleased, is a throbbing version of a Chris Whitley tune that closes out Disc 1.

Disc 2 opens with a rousing version of Jimmy Reed's “Big Boss Man,” complete with razor-sharp harp by Hugh Pool. The Rev then pumps a little bit of funk and a lot of vocal energy into Bobbie Gentry's countrified “Ode to Billie Joe” in another unreleased cut. Robert Johnson turns up again as the fearsome “Hellhound On My Trail,” materializes with a haunting vocal.

The traditional “I Know You Rider” gets a tough Southern rocker treatment in this rousing remixed version. “Yer Blues” is the Rev's one-man version of the Lennon/McCartney down-and-dirty blues for the Beatles, with the Freakchild rocking it hard and tight. “Wish I Was In Heaven” is a riveting trance-like version of the hypnotic Mississippi Hill Country blues by R.L. Burnside, and “Death Bells” is a solo country blues, with Freakchild's sparsely authentic version of the Lightnin' Hopkins song. Two live tracks wrap up this bluesified package: An enthusiastic a cappella version of Son House's “Grinnin' In Your Face,” with a rhythm section of audience handclapping, and the previously unreleased finale is an achingly soulful version of “As the Years Go Passing By,” by Peppermint Harris.

With this new set, the Rev Freakchild may have (or may not have) escaped his own karmic cycle, but his blues definitely live on. A frivolous approach to the Freakchild persona masks a serious appreciation for his music. A Bluesman Of Sorts is a far-too-modest title for this joyful collection of music that the Rev obviously loves and creates with unbridled passion and authenticity. Join him on his journey through this blues-filled astral plane, while you share his mantra: "Music is my religion. Through song I seek transcendence!" ~Jim White