The Fremonts

Listening to the Fremonts' No More Doggin, you hear a seasoned band capturing the sound of vintage electric blues.
Expect to hear a lot from these guys in the coming years.

I listened to the San Diego band's disc a few times before I got around to reading the press materials that said
the disc was the group's debut and that these guys have only been playing together since 2000. Furthermore,
singer Joe Milsap, a Manhattan, Kan., native, drives a bus by day and had never sung in a band before joining the
Fremonts. Lies. Lies. Lies. Just kidding.

The Fremonts say what they care about most is getting the right tone, and you have to like them right off the bat
for having such a worthy goal. You won't hear end-less guitar solos or other senseless noodling. These guys play
with a sense of good-humored irreverence and a penchant for keeping alive the Chess sound. Milsap is the frontman,
but the band has built its sound around him. Tony Tomlinson (guitar, bass), Patrick Skog (guitar, bass),
Troy "Swap Meet" Sandow (harmonica), and "Dirty' Kurt Kalker (drums) have found a strong balance between Milsap's
soulful singing and tight instrumental work.

Though the band tackles a few covers, including Taj Mahal's "Strut" and the traditional "St. James Infirmary," the focus is
on originals. Skog's raunchy "Wooden Monkey" is a fine vehicle for Sandow's harp work and rides a tribal
beat held down by Kalker. "Blood On My Hands" offers a fresh take on the classic theme of adultery that takes a
tragic end; Milsap is just as convincing suggesting pathos as he is dishing up more tongue-in-cheek material.

The Fremonts swing like the best of them. No More Doggin' shows them off to a great start. - Blues Revue

I first heard the Fremonts in Escondido when they were hired to entertain the masses outside at halftime when the show's headliners took intermission. An inauspicious gig, the toilets had gone out and there was water pumping over the steps in the courtyard where the Fremonts were set up. Inside, the big blues names on the bill lapsed into a long, coma-inducing jam. The audience wandered, and outside in the damp, the local boys eventually stole the show.

The Fremonts have the best tone since Little Walter or T-Bone Walker, your choice. They duplicate the greasy blues that radiated from the jukes of Chicago through Texas to the West Coast. "Our real concern is that we get a good tone," says Tony Tomlinson, who with Pat Skog doubles on both bass and guitars. Troy "Pony Boy" Sandow performs on harp, and Kurt Kalker plays drums.

The long shot in the band is Fremonts' vocalist "Mighty" Joe Milsap, a bus driver by day. "Our first gig was January 2000," says Tomlinson. "We started the summer before that with Lady Star. Joe used to come to Star's shows all the time. He wanted to know if we knew 'Fever.' " Milsap sat in while the band faked its way through the song. "He never really sang in a band before, except around his house and with friends. But he had such great tone" -- there's that word again -- "we said, 'We're gonna build a band around the tone of his voice.' "

Tomlinson says the best blues players in the world are on the West Coast. "There's now third- and fourth-generation guys that learned at the feet of the masters here." He counts off names like Johnny Otis, Big Mama Thornton, George Harmonica Smith. "The West Coast players stuck to their guns," he says. "There's no regional styles anymore," he says, "except here."
- San Diego Reader January 2003

Although they have only been going a few years, The Fremonts' sound suggests a pedigree extending much longer than that. The Fremonts' new CD, "No More Doggin'" confirms that they are more in tune with the traditional elements of the West Coast, Texas and Chicago styles. It is something of a refreshing change to hear a new blues band that eschews the recent trend of pitching to the rock market.

There is a subtle understated element to the Fremonts, which permeates the album from the opening of Taj Mahal's "Strut" right through to the ending of the instrumental "Boom Shaka." If you are looking for big flashy guitar solos, you will be sadly disappointed. Instead what you get is a tight outfit playing their way through a bunch of well constructed tunes (including six out of 11 originals), fronted by the rich baritone of Mighty Joe Milsap. Although the arrangement of "St James Infirmary" is fairly unnoteworthy, most of the other arrangements of the covers offer a different take on the original. On Roscoe Gordon's "No More Doggin'," for example, Troy Sandow plays unamplified harp, and the accompaniment is very lean; Sandow also contributes unamplified harp on Jimmy Reed's "High and Lonesome." The best tunes here, though are the originals, starting with Sandow's instrumental "Brother James", ranging through the ju-ju-like "Wooden Monkey," on to the excellent closer "Boom Shaka."

If rock/blues or blues/rock leaves you cold, and you are feeling the need for something a bit more subtle, "No More Doggin'" could be the antidote you have been looking for. The Fremonts have a good line in original material, and are a tight unit, with everyone knowing their role and playing it accordingly. The CD suggests that they put on a good live show, but until they come around to your town, you could do a lot worse than check out "No More Doggin'."
- Blues on Stage

The Fremonts er et relativt ferskt band fra California som er ute med sin aller første CD. Solide prestasjoner fra alle deltagende musikanter preger skiva hele veien igjennom. Dette er tradisjonell vestkystblues med en touch Chicago-preg her og der, dog med solide porsjoner soul iblandet. Vokalist Mighty Joe Milsap er til daglig buss-sjåfør, og synger han på jobb må det være en fornøyelse å ta bussen i San Diego. Nydelig, fyldig bariton-røst, og gode låter fra bandkollegaer Tomlinson og Skög til å bruke den på. Originallåtene (ca. halve CD’en) høres ut som de skulle være skrevet på 50- og 60-tallet og ikke i dag. Av coverlåtene kan man jo for eksempel trekke frem åpningssporet ”Strut” (signert Taj Mahal) som et av de bedre, mens trad. låta ”St. James Infirmary” nok er gjort i betraktelig bedre versjoner tidligere. Men bare det å våge seg på en av verdens vakreste (såvidt jeg kan bedømme) låter vitner om stort mot.

Tony Tomlinson og Patrick Skög er nevnt, de deler gitar- og bassjobbene seg i mellom, mens Kurt Kalker tar seg av rytmen på trommene og Troy Sandow krydrer med førsteklasses munnspill. Og til slutt altså buss-sjåføren vår på vokalen. Det som i første omgang kjennetegner The Fremonts er skikkelig, godt gammelfags håndverk; de er rett og slett et tett og godt lite band. Et band som spiller på akkurat det og ikke på f.eks. endeløse gitarsoloer. Dem finner du nemlig ikke i det hele tatt på No More Doggin’. - Radio Ung

Great surprise from the San Diego area.

It's called "The Fremonts" with their self-release "No More Doggin'".

They play how a compact band should with a velvety sound and an extraordinary swing.

Mighty Joe Milsap's intense voice and elegant way does the rest.

Eleven songs between covers and originals from a band of certain talent in the world of indie-blues.
This work is not contaminated by modern sounds......it plays simply the blues. Unmissable!!!!!!!!!



Simone Bargelli (DJ for "Rock 'n' Blues Today" and reviewer for the magazine "IL Blues", Italy)
- Il Blues Magazine (Italy)