Dori Freeman on Why She Doesn’t Set Many Concrete Goals and How She Writes Songs

Photo credit: Kristina LeBlanc

Tell us about your tour vehicle.

I have a silver 2003 Subaru. It has around 250,000 miles and I’ve had all sorts of repairs and tune ups done over the 5 or so years that I’ve owned it.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

Pack lots of granola bars or make semi healthy treats at home that I can bring on the road to satisfy my sweet tooth.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

I weirdly rarely break strings. I don’t play that hard and I use light gauge. My dad likes to give me a hard time because I don’t change them as often as I should.

Where do you rehearse?

My rehearsal space is any room in my home – my bedroom mostly. I usually write and practice at night once my daughter is asleep and do most of my writing when I’m the only one home.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

The first song I wrote was about a friend of mine named Mary. I wrote it around age 19. The lyrics went something like:

Let me hear about your sister
Can you give me the time
Let me hear about your tragedies
Better be saying goodbye
Let me wish you good luck now
I really oughta go
Maybe I’ll see you on down the line
I’ll have my worries in tow
Hey Mary

Describe your first gig.

My first gigs were shows of my father’s where he invited me up for a few tunes. I was about 15 or 16 when I first started performing on stage. He would have me come out in the middle of the show and play a few covers I had learned.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

My current jobs are mother and musician. Both are full time and there’s no perfect balance between the two, but I try my best! They’re the best jobs I’ve ever had.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

I’ve been able to pay my bills through my music over the last 4 years, which is a really good feeling. I would of course love to continue growing in every way in my career over the next 5-10 years, but I don’t set many concrete goals, because I prefer to just see where everything takes me as long as I’m always giving it my best.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

People will use you to their benefit if you allow it. It’s important to always focus on what is truly best for you rather than saying yes to everything.

Dori Freeman first broke out in 2016, with a stunning debut produced by Teddy Thompson and a sparkling voice that seemed to come from out of nowhere. Her songs were brittle, cracked, infused with heartbreak and seeming to speak for women everywhere, channeling Appalachian women in a way that hearkened back to Loretta Lynn. NPR spoke of her “bruised sort of romanticism” and Noisey referenced her “heart-wrenching moments.” Freeman had written her first album on the heels of a failed relationship, a suddenly-single mother in a small town. There was a bitter taste in her songwriting that reflected the fiercely independent streak Appalachian women are known for and her own lack of patience for bullshit.

Three years later, she’s now happily married (to drummer Nick Falk), and her new album, Every Single Star, to be released September 27, 2019 on Blue Hens Music (her second album on her own label after 2017’s Letters Never Read), features a very different perspective. She’s writing songs now for her new love, and for her daughter, as beholden as ever to the traditions that first inspired her as a young girl growing up in Galax, Virginia, but full of the same incisive eye for the human condition that’s always been her hallmark.

Connect with Freeman online and on the road.