ABOUT JAMES FREEBORN

James Freeborn is a surging alternative folk artist based in Glenwood Springs, CO. Though he has lived and performed all over the U.S., his earliest influences arrived while he was growing up in the modest brick-house neighborhoods of Fort Wayne, IN.

As the son of two Christian school teachers, his music library was limited to whatever CDs his parents had stored away in the living room, namely, The Beatles’ RUBBER SOUL. He got his first guitar at age 12. It was nothing more than a cheap toy, but that didn’t stop him from beginning to write and record scratch tracks over old cassette tapes when no one was watching.

He soon fell in love with the warm tones of acoustic folk, especially the Civil Wars, but nothing created a soundtrack to Freeborn's young life quite like the Arctic Monkeys. The lyrical prowess of Alex Turner's crooning rock & roll laid a handprint on most everything Freeborn wrote. He started to imagine creating something that blended the emotional nature of Americana with the power of rock music.

While Mumford & Sons and the Lumineers started to bring folk music back into the limelight, Freeborn's take on the earthy tones and thought-provoking lyrics of the genre found its own space far from these stalwarts. His vast combination of influences as well as his time spent worship-leading in the church gave birth to the kind of alternative sound that Freeborn captivates audiences with today. It’s folk music that isn’t afraid to go heavy with crunching guitar riffs and drums that march along with the beat of a thumping heart.

He released his debut EP, JANUARY’S GHOST in 2019. The whole project was recorded in a closet out in the mountains of Colorado, where he worked in housekeeping at a ski resort. It wasn't long before he traded the clattering of hotel corridors for the call of the stage.

In 2022, he plunged into a life of playing covers at bars across the U.S.--always attempting to provide his own acoustic spin on pop classics. How often do you hear stripped versions of Feel Good Inc. (Gorillaz) or Toxic (Britney Spears)?

In 2023, he released his first full album, MESAS & MOONS. Recorded with Tate Kirgiss in West Lafayette, IN, the album amassed more than 70,000 streams in its first year. In yet another debut, he released his first music video, The Grave (directed by Luke Menard), shortly thereafter. The track received acclaim from the likes of R+ in Argentina and Conversations About Her in the U.K. 

One thing is for certain, the music of James Freeborn is unlike anything we’re used to hearing up to this point in its raw, honest nature. Like gospel, it’s anthemic. Like folk, it carries a poignant message, and, like 2000s pop-rock, you'll want to hear it again and again.