Paul Freeman is a Welsh singer and musician.

Early life

Freeman was born in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. He found his first guitar atop a dumpster, although his parents and grandparents bought the 12-year-old Freeman a new six-string and a book of chords the following Christmas. Freeman's first song came two years later, an ode called "Some Day." Freeman contends that he is completely self-taught as a musician. During high school, Freeman worked at Linford Manor, a recording studio in

Great Linford Great Linford is a historic village, district and wider civil parish in the north of Milton Keynes, England, between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell, and roughly north of Central Milton Keynes. Great Linford village Great Linford was one of the ...

, where he says he taught himself to play piano. Said Freeman: "There were all these wonderful instruments lying around. I would never go to bed, I would just stay up and play them. What really got me into playing the piano was having access to the grand piano at the studio."

Career

Freeman moved first to London and became a guitar player for

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt ...

. Freeman moved to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, California, after reading '' East of Eden'' by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

. "This Steinbeck book was so inspiring, because it's so detailed and vivid. I moved months after that." Six months after emigrating, Freeman released an EP. Freeman's music came to attention of Michael King, founder of

King World Productions King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States founded by Charles King (1912–72) that ...

, who invited Freeman to play a benefit concert. Contacts made from the benefit brought Freeman's EP to the attention of

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

, who signed Freeman to

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

after a bidding war. Freeman says he devises a song's title before he ever writes the song. Freeman calls

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, to whom he's sometimes compared, and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

his influences. He also said that his song "Waiting for a Miracle" was "for want of a better phrase, my

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

song or my Clinton song." As Freeman explained it in an interview, the song expresses the need for change in America. Freeman wanders into the crowd during his shows in order "to remind people I'm just a guy playing a guitar. You enjoy music, and I enjoy music." He also toured with

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

on the American leg of Daltrey's "Tommy Reborn" tour. Freeman's EP, ''You and I'', was released on

on 12 November 2008. His EP ''That's How It Is'' was released on 1 August 2009. It was produced by

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

(Daughtry, Flyleaf, Motörhead, My Chemical Romance) and mixed by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

. Freeman's song "That’s How It Is" was featured near the close of an episode of ''Past Life'' called "Soul Music" (S01E03), first broadcast on 18 February 2010. His Song "Tightrope" was also featured on the Season Finale of ''

Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dra ...

''. His six-song EP ''Tightrope'' was released on 2 March 2010. Freeman's ''Passing Phase'' EP was released on iTunes, Amazon.com, and Bandcamp in August 2013. He released his first-ever live album, ''Paul Freeman at Volver Live'', on 3 November 2014.

Personal life

On 3 September 2016, Freeman married actress

Erin Cahill Erin Jessica Cahill (born January 4, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jen Scotts in ''Power Rangers Time Force'', Ted Mosby's sister Heather in ''How I Met Your Mother'', and Kendra Burke in '' Saving Grace''. She ...

in a ceremony in

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, France. Freeman also writes poetry as well as songs.

References

External links

Paul Freeman's Soundcloud page

"A Talk with Musician Paul Freeman"

Bandcamp of Paul Freeman's Volver Live album

YouTube video
of Paul Freeman's song "That's How It Is" {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Paul Living people Welsh pop singers Welsh male singers Welsh male singer-songwriters Welsh singer-songwriters Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Santa Monica, California Year of birth missing (living people)