The Unique Voices Club #7: Sawyer Fredericks

Every Friday, I write a post about unique singing voices not commonly heard in mainstream music in an effort to educate emerging artists and music lovers and inspire them to embrace their own quirks. This week I'm writing on Sawyer Fredericks.

Photo taken from his artist website

What perfect timing to write this week's post since Sawyer Fredericks has released a new album as of a few days ago, titled No Need to Wonder. I wrote about him many moons ago on my Mezzo, Legato! blog about his Boston pitstop at the Middle East on his first tour. And he's come a long way from when I first saw him as a long-haired, scrawny teenager totally uncomfortable with his newfound level of fame and with this crazy black chick asking him to autograph her handbag. At least my brother didn't cramp my style having to act as my chaperone that evening.

It's voices like Saywer's that inspired the core concept of The Unique Voices Club. This bowler-hatted kid stepped onto The Voice stage with an acoustic guitar singing the upbeat but lyrically morbid traditional folk song "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" and got all four chairs within the first thirty seconds. And made everyone cry week after week with his distorted vinyl voice up to the finale when he secured the victory. I knew nothing about folk music at the time, but his emotional delivery inspired me to go watch back through years of old video footage of him singing original songs that well surpass the usual understanding of a child. His talent is incredible. But somehow this guy, with his voice still changing on the show and on Team Pharrell (which seems like an unlikely match), shifted America's typical country voting. I will admit that, knowing what we all know about the music industry and what I know about major record labels, I was skeptical as to how he would fare afterwards. So it was no surprise that he announced he was going independent one heavily-produced album later.

The change in production is definitely evident from that point on, mostly with just him and his guitar and a few other acoustic elements (he performed "Take It All," his first major label single which is heavily produced like a pop song, with just a guitar at the show in Boston). But with this new album, as well as the one before it titled Flowers for You, he categorizes it as a kind of roots-infused folk rock which I'm not sure he would've been able to experiment with if he were still chasing the charts as a major signed artist. Because we all know it's about making stuff marketable there instead of creating art that can impact and resonate, which Sawyer has been doing since before his teens. But as his voice and musicianship has matured, it's displaying the roots of where he came from over in the farmlands of Upstate New York. Raw, gritty, growly and speaking the truth of life ("Funeral Parking Only" shares my disillusionment with the contrast between Gen Z's and Boomers' ability to afford the basic necessities while "Imposter at Heart" makes me want to do a jig), just like the work of the soil from which he came. And he actually has a falsetto now that was nonexistent on TV!

I'm not saying his major releases were terrible though as opposed to his indie ones, because I'm convinced he's too skilled to really produce something bad. After all, his duet "Stranger" with Mia Z (a post on her will come later!) was a song I was obsessed with when it first came out. And I think I downloaded "Lovers Still Alone" back when iTunes was still a thing. It's just that when an artist has full creative control over their art, their truth usually shines through better. And with the heaviness of his lyrics and a raspy angst-filled voice reminiscent of Neil Young, Sawyer's genre-bending music really resonates when he's the one behind how it's created rather than an executive. And his evolution proves it.

That's all for this week. I've attached "Stranger," one of my favorite songs by Sawyer, above among other things. Don't forget to follow him to see more of what he's up to, and subscribe to this blog at the bottom of the page to receive more Unique Voices Club entries to inspire you directly in your mailbox!

I will also casually mention that I have a Patreon as well so go join that if you want to join me in breaking the boundaries of making a life in art! 😊

Stay educated,

Alexia