The Lone Wolf Project
Band: The Lone Wolf Project
Members: Phillip Nathaniel Freeman, 24
How did you get into music? It started at a very early age. I would say I was a product of my environment. My dad is a very accomplished organist, and my mother ... has a beautiful mezzo soprano voice. Just growing up in that environment enriched my experience with music. I started with a classical background. I picked up electric guitar when I was 14, and I haven't looked back since.
When did you start The Lone Wolf Project? Summer of 2006. I'd been trying to expand my ... musical library, and I discovered the blues. When I was 14 and 15, I listened to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC and all those wonderful classic rock bands. I kept going back in time to find out who their inspiration was. I found out it was Muddy Waters and Lead Belly and Lightnin' Hopkins and all the blues legends. They provided ... a huge inspiration for The Lone Wolf Project. At that point, I also started reading ... John Steinbeck and Mark Twain. Those novels ... really inspired me to delve into an exploration of that time. During the Great Depression ... there was a lot of suffering, but a lot of incredible music came from that time. I wanted to explore ... what I could do with that genre.
You recently came out with an album "Old Words, New Chapters." It's even in the name: The Lone Wolf Project. I was born as an only child. I was born in York and raised in Mount Wolf. The project combines the efforts of at least a dozen people. It's almost like a person ... trying to find themselves in the world (where) they feel alone and then finding family at times when it counts the most. It's a culmination of songs that I wrote from my early teens up until now that kind of reflects a journey (of) struggling to be a better human being. The wolf (is) the beast inside. You have to deal with that part of yourself. A lot of those songs reflect that struggle.
Are you signed to a label? Terry Selders has been a huge help as far as getting something off the ground. Major Fifth Productions is actually a record label that I have owned for a while now. Terry was kind enough to help as far as getting national distribution set up for the album and putting it under his label as well. We did a joint release. We're also working with a radio promoter. (The album) had spins in Maryland and Alabama and Minnesota and Hazleton, Pa.
The werewolf theme seems appropriate for Halloween. I looked at the (Oct. 6) release date. It's just in time for Halloween. I am in a fraternity called Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (and) was part of that fraternity (at Lebanon Valley College). That's the anniversary of the founding of the fraternity: Oct. 6, 1898. I thought that would be a good day to have the release. It's especially awesome to have (the release) during Halloween. It's one of my favorite times of year.
Did you do an album release show? We did it at one of our friend's houses (in Sign of the Wagon) on Philadelphia Street in York. They usually have a band there. The show went absolutely amazing. All our friends and family came to the event. It was during First Friday.
This weekend, you're slated to play MyRuralRadio Fall Fest 4 and Yorktoberfest. Mike Males, the guy who put together the MyRuralRadio fall festival, (is a) close friend. We met at a couple open mike nights, and we jammed together. I'm really excited to play Fall Fest 4. The whole environment is fantastic. You have the vineyards in the background, and you have hundreds ... of people. If nobody's heard of it, they need to check it out. And then the next day, they need to come to Yorktoberfest. (Laughs) I'm playing (Sunday) afternoon solo.
Like any other local bands? Absolutely. It's such a tight-knit community in York. It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of that. There (are) so many wonderful people that if I started naming people, I would leave somebody out. There's another project I'm also a part of... called Small Town Titans. If people are interested in more grunge or hardcore, they can go to smalltown
titans.com to check that out.
MyRuralRadio Fall Fest 4
The MyRuralRadio.com Fall Fest 4 runs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Naylor Winery, 4069 Vineyard Road, Hopewell Township. General admission is $15. Kids 15 years old and younger enter for free. Proceeds benefit the Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for children's hospitals.
The event will include pumpkin painting, a Halloween costume contest and two stages of live music. Performers include The Plums, J.D. Sage and the Dagnabbits, Brittany Opperman, American Jane, Megan and the Wheelmen and Free Breakfast. The Lone Wolf Project will take the stage at 8:15 p.m.
For details, call 443-928-1940 or visit www.myruralradio.com.
Online
The Lone Wolf Project:www.thelonewolfproject.com
Listen to the interview:flipsidepa.com
Read more meet-the-artist interviews:flipsidepa.com/musicdirectory
Get Yorktoberfest details at flipsidepa.com.