Mike Fredrickson’s recording career began in 1986 playing bass with the Spanic Boys, a gig that included a performance on “Saturday Night Live.” Since that time, he wrote and performed with The Mosleys and Robbie Fulks, as well as releasing solo CDs.
On Fredrickson’s recent album, Wicked Fate, drummer Dave Braun rides shotgun along with pedal steel guitarist Leroy Deuster, fiddler Susan Nicholson and keyboardist-accordionist Bob Jennings. Producer Mike Hoffmann adds various guitar parts. As it has long been the case, Fredrickson’s songs are character studies, slices of life populated with folks who get their moment in three-and-a-half-minute pop songs.
The album’s genesis was a collection of acoustic-based songs, some featuring Fredrickson on banjo. He says the idea of moving to the recording sessions was to give the players basic templates of songs and trust the musicians to come up with interesting parts. Deuster’s playing gives the album a distinct country feel. Nicholson’s parts on “Little Rock” and “Oh Young Love” add signature sounds. Hoffmann’s guitar solo blasts out of the gate ramping up “He’s Only Fooling.” Braun’s nimble drumming anchors the collection of songs with a barely-there quality.
With songs dating back to the late ’90s, Fredrickson has the luxury of a deep catalog of unrecorded songs. “Salad Days” finds Fredrickson in character, channeling the thoughts of a proud veteran recalling his patriotic youth. “Stuck in Sheboygan” is a humorous take that could fill dancefloors.
Mike Fredrickson’s will perform a release show for Wicked Fate, with his group Bristlehead, at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m. Saturday, March 14.
