ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
June 3, 2026
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Yes, we're returning to our weekly survey of thirty (30) songs by one important artist. This Episode we're focusing on Freakwater, the ensemble surrounding the otherworldly harmonies of vocalist/songwriters Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Irwin. There are few if any acts that are simultaneously as deeply rooted in tradition and as likely to depart from trad. To quote Irwin, Freakwater is the sound of hope being destroyed, at least when we're doing it right.
We'd strongly encourage you to dip into Bean's other Chicago institution, Eleventh Dream Day, as well as Irwin's solo records. But for today we're focusing on the Freakwater projects that remain available for streaming, from 1991's debut to their 2016 Scheherazade. We've also added a pair of tunes from their 2022 collab with the Mekons beneath the Freakons moniker. While the duo's harmonies are essential to their indelible sound, the consistentcy of their writing and musicianship should not be overlooked. Their originals hold their own beside the earlier covers. Once again quoting the band, In all honesty there is not another band like we are, and that is a great thing because there is no one to take our place.
FREAKWATER: thirty favorites
- "A Song You Could Cry For" Dancing Under Water (Thrill Jockey, 91)
- "Rank Strangers"
- "Wild and Blue"
- "You're Still On My Mind"
- "My Old Drunk Friend" Feels Like the Third Time (Thrill Jockey, Sep 1 93)
- "Forgettable Song"
- "Crazy Man"
- "You've Never Been This Far Before"
- "Gravity" Old Paint (Thrill Jockey, Oct 10 95)
- "My One Desire"
- "Smoking Daddy"
- "Waitress Song"
- "Picture In My Mind" Springtime (Thrill Jockey, Jan 20 98)
- "Louisville Lip"
- "Twisted Wire"
- "Binding Twine"
- "Good For Nothing" End Time (Thrill Jockey, Sep 7 99)
- "Cloak Of Frogs"
- "Cheap Watch"
- "Queen Bee"
- "Right Brothers" Thinking Of You (Thrill Jockey, Sep 13, 05)
- "So Strange"
- "Loserville"
- "Hi Ho Silver"
- "What the People Want" Scheherazade (Fluff & Gravy, Feb 15 16)
- "Asp and the Albatross"
- "Velveteen Matador"
- "Number One With a Bullet"
- "Chestnut Blight" Freakons (Fluff & Gravy, Mar 25, 22)
- "Blackleg Miner"
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