Brenda Freed

Brenda Freed began singing in the church choir at the tender age of six. Later she went on to earn a Masters Degree in Music Therapy and Music Education from the University of Iowa. Freed arrived in Texas in 1991, after a cross-country bicycle trip led her to the Kerrville Folk Festival. As a singer/songwriter she has released three CD's and toured Texas, the Midwest, Southern California, England and Ireland. She is the founder of the popular women's trio, Texas Hot Flash, a cappella and then some. She also performs as a duo with Michael D’Eath called Him and Her. Freed teaches piano, guitar and voice at her Wimberley Studio.

Literati:  What first attracted you to music and performance?

I’ve been attracted to performing since the first Shirley Temple movies I watched at my grandmother’s house starting when I was about 5 years old. After that, every time I saw a performance that involved a young person I would think, “I want to do that!” The church and school were the only outlets for performing in the small town where I am from so my first music performances were in those environments, starting at age 6 in the church junior choir.

Literati:  Can you tell us why you feel compelled to take part in so many different musical projects?

I have an eclectic taste in music and simply listening to most music is not enough. I actually want to learn it and if I take the time to learn it, I want to perform it. I feel fortunate I have a versatile voice that allows me to sing in a variety of styles. But many of my musical projects sort of just came to me. I have never planned to be involved in so many at once.

We would like to know how each of these projects came about. First tell us about Texas Hot Flash.

In 2000 I wanted to do a recording project that would take me in a new direction. I had been singing and playing with a great guitarist, co-writer and friend, Val Roessling, for five years and we co-wrote, performed and recorded in a variety of styles. We were criticized for this. I wanted to try to make my music less diverse and try something different so I hired Glenn Kawamoto as producer of my 3^rd CD, “Smilin’ Inside” and away we went in a more keyboard rather than guitar driven direction.

My three previous recordings all ended with an original a cappella tune in three-part harmony that I perform solo so I had established that as a signature. Glenn wanted the a cappella tune I had chosen for Smilin’ Inside to have an instrumental drone and I went with that.

He also orchestrated one of my co-written songs which I played on guitar, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down, with about 7 women’s voices a cappella. I laughed when he suggested this because this album, too, was becoming eclectic. But I went with it. Once the album was completed, I realized that, unlike the a cappella tunes I recorded in the past, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down would not fly without some backup singers. So I started the search for singers to perform that song live.

At first there were 5 of us, and they learned my a cappella tunes from my other recordings and some others that I knew. We would do a set in the middle of my band gigs. The response to the a cappella set was so positive we decided to let it take on a life of its own, and I started booking it as Brenda Freed and Freed’m. Two of the women couldn’t commit to the group but Amy Cartee, who was the graphic artist for all my CD’s and who had come to me for voice lessons, and Karene, who I met through a mutual friend at a party, decided to go for it.

We wanted a group name. The three of us were singing around the campfires at the Kerrville Folk Festival and someone said, “It’s so hot, you wouldn’t even know if you were having a hot flash.” We laughed and screamed, “That’s it! Hot Flash!” Texas was added to distinguish ourselves further. Since 2002 we’ve been singing together along with Michael D’Eath on harp and accompanying ourselves on a variety of instruments when not singing a cappella

Literati:  What about the Songbook Project?

Douglas and Freed Songbook Concert Series came about in 2001. I was preparing for my wedding to Michael D’Eath in 2000 and picking up some clothes at the dry cleaners. I told the working woman there I was going to wear my mother’s 50 year old wedding dress and showed her the dress which I happened to have in my car. She loved the dress and said, “What are you going to wear on your head?” I told her, “nothing.” She insisted I could not wear that dress without some kind of headpiece and that she would make it. (This is about a week before the wedding.) I did not know this woman but decided to trust her when she said, “Don’t worry, I won’t mess it up.” I thought, this is a woman I can deal with.

Her name is Karen Douglas. During the course of making my veil Karen discovered I taught voice and decided she wanted lessons. We started lessons and I discovered she had a background in theatre, including musical theatre. I’ve always wanted to sing more of that music so we decided to put together informative two-woman shows of older music.

In the shows we talk about the composers’ lives and their inspiration for writing their music. Karen writes and produces the shows, and I direct the music part. Today we have prepared and perform three two-woman shows: Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Cole Porter. Next is Irving Berlin. I have learned so much from Karen including being exposed to all this music that is new to me, and we have a blast performing mostly for senior citizens.

Literati:  You also perform with your husband, Michael D’Eath, in a duo called Him and Her. How did that start? How does it work out performing with your husband?

It started out of necessity. Michael and I found ourselves in situations with opportunities to perform, and I wasn’t able to do it. I had put all my time and energy into THF, abandoned my own original material that THF didn’t perform, and I was not spending enough time playing guitar and piano. It was weird to find myself unable to play my own songs, and in some cases, not even able to remember them!

I no longer wanted to be totally dependent on Texas Hot Flash being around if I wanted to perform somewhere. Also, I wanted to give Michael more opportunity to play. We decided to work on material that we can perform together, just the two of us, anywhere any time.

The Him and Her act works out great for me because Michael’s playing inspires me to strive to become a better instrumentalist. We use Him and Her gigs as an opportunity to hone our skills and play music we don’t get to do with THF. We try not to take them too seriously and just have fun. We’ve talked about how we feel lucky to have this activity we can do together. Some couples golf, go to a movie, whatever. We get a Him and Her gig.

Literati:  Young Artists Performance Incubator Series: How long have you been doing it? What does the work involved entail? What are the rewards for you?

I’ve been teaching guitar, piano and voice privately since 1991. I started the Young Artist Performance Incubator (YAPI) in March of 2003 because many of my students wanted me to do more than one recital per year so that they could have more opportunity to perform. To avoid this I started calling around town looking for opportunities for them to perform like during intermissions of community theatre productions and stuff like that. That endeavour was so time consuming just trying to research who to call, I decided once a month I would create an event for them to perform. Because I knew there were many other young artists in the community, I decided to make it a community event and designate it an Open Mic for ages 19 and under.

The work involved is all self-induced because if I’m going to put energy into something, I like it to be good. The production is in 3 stages: 1) Pre-YAPI - getting it publicized in whatever publication will print it, putting up posters, sending a YAPI reminder to the mailing list and hauling the equipment there; 2) During YAPI - providing equipment that will make the event easy for young people such as a sound system, weighted-keyed full keyboard, music stand and stool, getting people signed up on the list, taking photos for the website, and 3) Post-YAPI – sending a post YAPI email newsletter, keeping the website current with pictures, lists of the performers and posting YAPI news and notes.

I regularly get help with the loading and unloading of equipment, with the photography during YAPI and with getting people signed up. One mother has purchased YAPI ads in the school newspaper a few times. The local publications have been great about listing it in their calendars of events and writing articles. I think my webmaster gives me a special deal on the website maintenance which is greatly appreciated.

Hosting YAPI has had many rewards for me. As I mentioned, my own students inspired me to start it because I was looking for a new way to inspire them to practice. It has been GREAT to see the results of that. There were only a few teenagers who wrote their own material when YAPI started. Now, most of the YAPI performers write and I really don’t have much to do with that. They have inspired each other. That has been fun to witness.

YAPI was intended to be a stepping stone for young performers to test out performing in a non-threatening environment. I have enjoyed watching these young performers grow as artists and many have gone on and performed other places since their first public performances at YAPI. One teen even went on to place 2^nd in Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion Young Artist contest. It just feels good to know YAPI has inspired these young people to be creative.

I, personally, am inspired by these young performers. I hear the songs they are writing and see how their skills improve, and it makes me want to practice and write more. Every time I think about maybe quitting YAPI, more new people show up, or someone has written a new song, or learned an old one better. It’s these things that keep me motivated to continue.

Another musician in town has expressed interest in helping and if that happens, I’m hoping YAPI will become its own thing one day and live on without me actually having to be there. That’s the goal. AND, I have always thought youth needed a healthy, fun activity in the community independent of church and school. YAPI provides that.

Literati:  Now you have joined an Irish music band, O’Malarkey. Why did you feel you needed to add another project?

I did not feel I needed another project. Santa gave me a bass because I hear bass lines and I wanted it to use for writing. A friend of mine had been asking me for months to come play guitar in her Irish band. I really didn’t want to do that. I thought if I was playing guitar, I needed to be working on my own stuff. When she learned I had gotten a bass, she invited me to come play bass in the Irish band. Now, I was interested in doing that because, I do tend not to practice unless I have a gig for which to practice. Also, I’m enjoying learning about another kind of music I really didn’t get into before. I really like it and it has been the perfect inspiration for me to learn the bass.

Literati:  Your publishing company is called Moondance Treasures Music Publishing. How many artists are represented? How is that project going?

I am working with 8 other songwriters; many who have co-written with me. I have spent time getting all the ducks in a row like the copyrights, the contracts, setting up a corporation, getting the website together, getting the equipment to record demos and duplicate CD’s, etc. Several songs have been sent out and some have been considered. No actual cuts yet and I know it’s a tough business, but I want to get these songs out there. I’m always looking for creative avenues to get songs to the right people and thinking about what songs to pitch to whom. I intend to spend much more time on this soon so count on more success to report on this project in the near future.

Literati:  Do you still find time for any solo work? If so what are you working on now?

I am not seeking solo gigs. The work with Him and Her assures me I could do a solo performance if I chose. I just wouldn’t have a lead player. However, I prefer to share the performance experience with at least one other person. It’s just more fun for me that way. But I NEVER again want to lose my confidence or chops to the point that I wouldn’t be able to do a solo act if the situation presented itself.

Literati:  At one time you were a music therapist. Do you see any relevance of that profession to the work you are doing now?

Almost everything I do can be related to my music therapy background. I teach guitar, piano and voice privately, and I definitely approach each student from a music therapy perspective; focusing not only on teaching a musical skill but working on non-musical goals as well such as encouraging self-expression.

Texas Hot Flash recently opened for Charlie Daniels Band at the Firefly Festival in South Bend, IN because the executive director heard us when we performed at the National Music Therapy Conference in Austin last fall. My association with music therapy was instrumental in my seeking that conference gig in the first place.

The Douglas and Freed Songbook Concert project is basically taking music therapy right to those people in retirement and nursing homes for whom we perform. Those people obviously perk up and are so appreciative to hear live music from their era.

One of my primary goals as a music therapist is to use music to increase self-esteem, self-confidence and socialization. YAPI is all about doing just that and creating an environment that ensures it will happen. That is why I always request the audience to respect each other’s varying musical tastes, level of musical skill and to encourage each other by listening. YAPI is therapeutic as a family activity and bringing youth from different peer groups together.

Also, I am on the staff of www.youthtakingcharge.org, and I will be doing music therapy activities at the summer camp for at-risk youth.

Literati:  Do you have any final comments for our readers?

I have a lot of passions, and I like learning new things. Passion for what I am doing is the only way I have the energy to do everything I do. I think it’s important to be passionate about something in life. Also, I go for the joy. I feel blessed that I get to make my living and spend much of my time doing things that give me and other people joy. I wish the same for everyone.

More information is available on Brenda Freed at her website: http://www.brendafreed.com and at the Texas Hot Flash site: http://www.texashotflash.com

Download or listen to one of Texas Hot Flash’s Songs: "Let me Sing" (2.45mg mp3 file)