Ryan McDonald Raised Rowdy Staff Writer
I want to veer slightly off the path I usually take for articles like this and ask a favor of you. Before you read Nate’s interview he graciously carved out time to give us, I’d like you to listen to his last single “Go On And Leave Me”. We shared it with you late last year after we first heard, and fell in love with Nate’s voice, and his ability to convey raw emotion through song in a refreshing way. So if I could just steal a few minutes of your time you didn’t plan on lending me…
I’ve included links to both streaming services because even though I have serious reservations with one of them, I still want you to be able to listen to the song.
http:/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-on-and-leave-me/1441535533?i=1441535539
http:/https://open.spotify.com/track/0WSpTVEIhQfQkH9FKrAZYv?si=lIBtayGXTGy09U1bIeV0YQ
Thank you. Perhaps now you have a better understanding of why we love Nate Fredrick’s music so much. It is our duty and privilege to bring you as much music as we can that we think you’ll draw something from. Nate has something very special coming out March 19th that we’ll also share with you. His “The Nutthouse Sessions” recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama is a digital 45 of “Go On And Leave Me” as well as “Better Off Alone”. Nate is also going to be releasing some live sessions of a song he only shared of clip of on his Instagram page. “Keeping Me Alive” is a bluesy masterpiece that paints imagery with song as well as any you’ll hear.
We can’t thank Nate enough for his time, as well and the candidness he shows in his interview. With grit in his voice and determination, paired with a little bit of luck along the way, you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more of Nate in the coming future.
What are your early memories of music?
When I was 4 years old I would go into Entertain-mart with my mother and that was back in the day where they had CDs and headphones so you could listen to samples of the record before you bought it. I would walk around and listen and by the end I handed my mother a Joe McBride and a David Koz instrumental CD and she bought them for me.
Who introduced you to music?
My dad brought home an acoustic guitar when I was 11 years old because he was going to learn how to play. He took lessons for a short period of time and then we had a guitar that was just in the house so I started to mess around on it . I took lessons later at the age of 15 for a year and i would just bring in CDs to my guitar teacher and he would tab them out for me to learn how to play. It was never a super conventional type of teaching. He helped me to navigate my way around the instrument and let me learn to play in my own way.
Who were some of your influences?
I used to listen a lot of Van Morrison and Billy Holiday as a kid and Dave Matthews as a teenager and also Inside Wants Out. John Mayer’s first EP when he was a dorky kid with a big watch on . That’s my favorite Mayer (not the celeb comedian one). Bill Withers and Otis Redding were also influences of mine because they had so much soul in the way that they sang and played which is why i liked van Morrison as well because he never seemed to sing things the same he just felt it and i could really identify with that approach to writing and performance and still do in a sense. I also listened to the shit out of the album Mescalito by Ryan Bingham in 2009 when I was at University of Arkansas. It was a pivotal record for me.
Your music is described in many different ways. How do you describe it to someone who hasn’t heard it?
It has changed a lot over the years really as I am still learning how to write a song I feel and be thoughtful with my lyrics and things but I would say that it has some soul and blues influences as well as a bit of country for the Ozarks where I am from. The singer/songwriter aspect is obviously there but i think that is a bullshit term anyone that sings, plays ,and writes their own songs, I think is a singer/songwriter.
You’ve been in Nashville for a few years now. What was the driving reason for you to pack up and leave Missouri?
I saved up 3,000 dollars in 2015 from playing gigs in Springfield, Mo where I am originally from. I was living with my girlfriend at the time and also waiting tables at a restaurant. I had a show at the listening room booking in July and also a Sunday writers night at the Bluebird Cafe and I decided to move down July 5th to try and become a better writer and artist and see if my shit would travel so to speak. It hasn’t been easy at times but I have grown a lot and learned about myself in ways that I never would have if I stayed in Missouri. I feel like I am finally hitting my stride so I am excited about 2019 and the crew of people I am surrounded by. So many talented folks and I feel like we all make each other better.