When I clicked play on “Follow You” and listened, I thought of a singer friend of me. Something about the voice and sound of the guitar got me thinking. The best part about networking with other musicians and checking out their sounds is that I get be a fan. I get to find new sounds. Freestone August, which isn’t that the coolest name?, is from Asheville, NC. Click play on the song and read the story behind the song as you play. Maybe you’ll think of some friends too.
Story Behind The Song
I wrote the song ‘Follow You’ a few of years ago after playing around with a chord progression and vocal melody that almost had a gospel feel to it. The song pretty much wrote itself once I had those two elements in place, because the lyrics just flowed naturally without much thought or effort. The song itself is about my upbringing in Wales and relocation to the USA. More specifically, it’s about how the influence of my parents molded me into the person I am today and the values that they instilled in me that, regardless of my distance from them, I still live by today. I guess the best way to describe it is that my family is always with me wherever I may be, because they helped make me who I am.
The song was recorded in one take at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN while my wife and I were visiting this past August. The recording is very raw and sounds pretty close to how I perform it live in a solo setting. This was a first for me, I had never been in a recording studio with one of my songs before, and so I can hear the nerves in my vocals on the recording! I would love to record a full-band version of the song some time, complete with Bass, Percussion, some vocal harmonies, and perhaps a fiddle or cello.
Whenever I have jammed with other musicians and I’ve played this song during the jam, I’ve always received compliments about how beautiful the song is. I am very grateful to receive such kind feedback from fellow musicians. The song will usually get a good reaction from the audience whenever I perform it live, too. I think that it’s an easy song for many people to relate to and as a result of that, they feel a connection with it. I think also that since the song is special to me, the audience can perhaps sense that in my performance, so they’ll be drawn to it because of the energy I put into playing it.
Freestone August Links
- Buy “Follow You” on BandCamp
- ReverbNation