My Music Episode 250 - Fred Abong

The only guest to appear on My Music 3 times! Fred was my first guest way back when. Indie rock artist Fred Abong presents 'My Way', the second singe from his forthcoming 'Fear Pageant' album, slated for release in late summer via Seattle-based label Disc Drive. Earlier, Abong released the record's lead track 'Father'. This is Abong's seventh album (most were self-released, as were his two EPs), following up his 'Yellowthroat' album, released in mid-2022 and recorded together with Rob Ahlers (50FOOTWAVE, Kristin Hersh Electric Trio). On this release, Abong - a Filipino American alternative singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist - upholds his reputation for creating a blend of “ragged Replacements and lyric-driven Bob Dylan” and as “Elliott Smith with balls”. A musical and geographical wanderer, he grew up in the Northeast, has lived in Southern California, and currently calls New Orleans home. His songs are existentially and romantically focused, poetic, and slightly off-kilter. Detuned guitars, unconventional song structures, and a raw and unpolished production aesthetic characterize the overall sound. Fred’s hypnotic, sometimes gravelly voice adds to the effect. "Unlike the Sinatra song of the same name, this is not a manifesto of self-determination or a reflection on individualism and world-beating fearlessness. It’s also not a send-up of that attitude or sentiment. My ‘My Way’ is, accidentally, closer to the subject matter (but not the sentiment) of the original French version of the Sinatra song. In the French version, of which I only recently became aware, the gradual erosion of marriage and love by the crushing boredom of mundane life is the focus," says Fred Abong.