Gothic Theatre

Freakwater

his biography is just a compilation of facts of public record.

1962
Catherine Ann Irwin born on March 4th in New Haven, Connecticut. Her parents, both teachers, are avid collectors of Clancy Brothers records as well as more traditional folk music. Her Irish dad plays bagpipes, her aunt was once in a skiffle band. Spent her childhood in Goshen, 10 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky. Catherine learns about bluegrass at Brown, her “hippie school.”

1964
Janet Beveridge Bean born on February 9th in Bartow, Florida, the same day as the Beatles’ debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1974
Janet and her family move from Tampa, Florida, to Louisville.

1976
Janet & Cathy first spy each other. Cathy has a “scary” friend (possibly Jenny Cattlett, the person on the “Feels Like the Third Time” cover) who lives near Janet. The two are mean to Janet, she being two years younger, so Janet avoids them.

1980
Catherine plays in a folk trio with her brother, Alec, and a friend. Inspired by mid-west punks The Dead Boys, the band turns punk, too, adds members, and become the locally-legendary Dickbrains. (Their signature song, “Fat Man”, and others, can be heard here.) Catherine continues playing more folksy-type music, privately. The Dickbrains reign supreme, briefly, then Catherine announces she is going to travel overseas, and the band dissolves. Catherine skips town.

Read more about the Dickbrains here (from where this photo is taken).

1982
Janet plays percussion in bands called Skull of Glee and the Zoo Directors. Catherine and Janet meet at a Circle X show. Catherine falls out laughing when she hears Janet’s full name, and the two are friends ever since. Sometime after, Janet gets thrown out of her parents’ house, so she moves into Catherine’s apartment.

1983
Catherine drafts Janet to perform together publicly for the first time, singing songs such as “Stand By Your Man”, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”, and “Pistol Packin’ Mama”, at The Beat Exchange, accompanied by the late Bruce Witsieppe (Circle X) on drums and possibly Gary Stillwell (later of Bodeco) on guitar. They dress up for the occasion—Janet wears a red polyester dress, vinyl boots, a wig, and possibly a stuffed brassiere.

C&J record demos together, mostly covers but also a few Catherine originals, in the basement of Janet’s parents, country hams hanging alongside them.

Janet and Rick Rizzo start the band Eleventh Dream Day (“EDD”). They soon move to Chicago.

1986
EDD release their eponymous debut LP for the Amoeba label.

1987
Cathy and Janet continue to perform live together, opening for various friends’ garage bands, under the names “Penny and Jean” and, later, “Mojo Wishbean & Trippy Squashblossum”. Under this moniker, they contribute a 1985 take of Woody Guthrie’s “Little Black Train” to a WNUR compilation called “Hog Butcher for the World”. Here’s a one-minute sample.

In September, EDD record the legendary Prarie School Freakout LP in six hours. Catherine paints—canvases for pleasure, houses for income.

1988
Janet and Rick marry.

Keith Holland, Louisville native and founder of Amoeba records, approach C&J about making a record.
C&J give their little partnership a name—Freakwater—thinking the word meaningless, neither knowing it was a term for moonshine whiskey. Most of the tracks for the debut are recorded in June and July. David Wayne Gay is introduced to C&J by the album’s producer and/or engineer—he plays bass on it every Freakwater record since.

Eleventh Dream Day are lauded by Greil Marcus of Interview magazine and catch the attention of Bettina Richards who was, at the time, working A&R for Atlantic Records. Richards signs them to Atlantic.

1989
Catherine and Janet release their debut LP, Freakwater, for Amoeba Records, a full year in advance of Uncle Tupelo’s No Depression, the LP cited as the cornerstone of the “alt-country” movement.

Atlantic issues EDD’s critically acclaimed Beet, but it doesn’t sell well.

1991
Catherine and Janet record their second album as Freakwater, Dancing Under Water, but they get into some sort of disagreement with Keith Holland of Amoeba Records, and he snags their master tapes. Freakwater never gets paid by Amoeba for any sales, and it takes years for Janet and Catherine to gain control of the masters.

1992
EDD puts out the excellent Lived to Tell but it doesn’t break out either. Catherine does the art for the cover.
Matthew, Rick and Janet’s son, is born. Freakwater records the Feels Like the Third Time LP .

1993
EDD puts out the El Moodio LP, and Atlantic drops the band very soon after. (What idiots! El Moodio is a quality, mainstream effort with two or three singles on it). They record Ursa Major for Altavistic Records later in the year.

1994

Freakwater tours in America, sometimes opening for Wilco, and also in Europe. A German record company, Glitterhouse, puts out a live album, titled June 6, 1994.

Bettina Richards, who signed EDD to Atlantic, begins the independent Thrill Jockey records. Freakwater and EDD join their artist roster.

1995
Freakwater’s Feels like the Third Time LP is released by Thrill Jockey on May 23rd. Their South of Cincinnati single and the Old Paint LP are released on October 10th.

1996
In April, Freakwater are courted by Steve Earle to sign with his E-Squared label. But after months of fruitless negotiations, the deal falls through.

1997
Freakwater records the Springtime LP in April and tours at home and abroad.

1998
Springtime is released on January 20th. David Gay relocates to Asheville, North Carolina and works with Morgan Geer on their project, The Payday Knights, which later permutates into White Heat, and ultimately The Unholy Trio. Max Conrad Johnson plays his last show with Freakwater at the Mercury Paw on New Year’s Eve.

1999
The difficult End Time sessions begin in January. Later that year, Freakwater tours nationally, playing twenty-six shows in a month’s time. Two of them, including October 9th’s Chicago show, feature the string section from that album.

Some wise person at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville invites Freakwater to a photo shoot, adorning them in the vintage threads of T. Texas Tyler, Johnny Dollar, and Hank Thompson. End Time is released on September 2nd. Janet and Rick separate at the end of the year. Janet takes a steady job at a Chicago law firm.

2000
Freakwater turn down the chance to tour Australia, Janet needing to provide for her family. Catherine Irwin plays her first solo show, supported by The Unholy Trio, at Austin’s SXSW.

2001
Janet and Rick divorce. An attempt to record as Freakwater is discussed but doesn’t materialize.

(Photo courtesy of Barry Brecheisen)

2002
Catherine records her solo debut LP, Cut Yourself a Switch, in May. Janet Bean and the Concertina Wire play four shows in Chicago over the course of the year, and complete their LP. Freakwater play a handful of gigs—a couple alone and five as part of the Thrill Jockey 10th Anniversary Tour. Janet plays a solo show in Spain during this tour. The Unholy Trio plays what might have been their last gig in August, but resurface, playing under the name of their leader, Morgan Geer, in December. Catherine plays fifteen solo shows supporting Switch, released October 8th, with Dave on bass. A 2003 Freakwater recording is pondered over. . .

Photography by Jim Newberry

2003
In the first part of the year, Catherine and Dave play sixteen shows. Eleventh Dream Day are described as “Chicago’s most underrated band” by Chicago Magazine. Dragging Wonder Lake by Janet Bean and the Concertina Wire is released on April 8th, and the band plays four shows to support the new work. In June, Freakwater play three gigs in California (almost four years have passed since they last appeared on the west coast), opening for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Unholy Trio, alive and well, continue to tear it up in the southeast. Catherine and Dave tour again briefly in the fall, as do the Concertina Wire. The Old Paint LP as well as Eleventh Dream Day’s Prarie School Freakout are reissued in October. EDD reunites with original guitarist Baird Figi for a November Chicago show. Also in November, PBS’ Austin City Limits broadcasts a performance by Neko Case, who performs Catherine’s “Hex” in the middle of her set.

2004
Catherine, Janet, & Dave perform independently and intermittently through the year. Janet & Catherine begin demoing new Freakwater material. In November, Neko Case releases a live CD, The Tigers Have Spoken, which has Catherine’s “Hex” as its third track. In December, Catherine & Janet play a short Freakwater set as part of “Bloodshot Record’s Holiday Happy Hour” at Carol’s Pub in Chicago, and debut four new songs. Plans are made to record a new Freakwater album the following January, their first in six years.

2005
In January, Freakwater record Thinking of You, and participate in a benefit for Tsunami relief. In March, the Looking for a Thrill DVD is released (Janet and Catherine are briefly interviewed on the disc). In July, Catherine and some old friends put on an art exhibition of their work at the Cinderblock in Louisville.