7#;d$WWWWWe.   {x :*dW:+::d::::::FREAKSHOW Freakwater straddles the fissure between country music and country people WHO: Freakwater WHERE: The Tomato Head WHEN: Monday, Oct. 16, 10 p.m. (doors open at 9 p.m.) HOW MUCH: $7 by Chris Barrett Old Paint is Freakwaters fourth and brand-new album. Theres a horse on the cover. That notwithstanding, its a loaded title. Catherine Irwin, who writes the bulk of Freakwaters songs and then sings them in harmony with fellow guitarist Janet Beveridge Bean, is a painter. Her day job of late is painting sets for an upcoming Louisville, Ky., production of The Nutcracker Suite. She also painted the winsome beast on the jacket. So she presumably gets her share of old paint under her nails. But more relevant to the title, perhaps, are the settings she renders for the characters of her short story-songs. Listen carefully and youll hear old paint flake and chip musically from the trailers, mining camp huts, shotgun shacks and sagging clapboard tenant houses that shelter the population of Irwins imagination. Freakwaters music, and the manner in which its made available, makes for something of a paradox. The stranger-than-fiction rural tales of marital bliss and dysfunction, hangovers, infertile farmlands and futures relayed by Irwin and Beans late night Hazel and Alice harmonies are as country as country music can get. But Old Paint, like their other three LPs, is on an indie rock label (Thrill Jockey in the case of Old Paint and its predecessor, Feels Like the Third Time). By and large, Freakwaters audience are youthful urban and suburban thrill seekers, while the folks theyre actually singing to and about are being force-fed Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt. Its a contradiction not lost on Irwin. I dont know why they even have country radio anymore, Irwin comments in a bashful Ohio River valley drawl. Once in a while Ill hear something besides Dwight Yoakam that I like, and its always a shock. Irwin is also aware that Freakwater wouldnt survive the kind of processing that makes a song a hit on TNN. Like cold well water that seems to taste better for the sand swirling in the jar, Freakwater is musically and lyrically unpolished and more beautiful because of that. Whatever Freakwater is, its pretty sincere, says Irwin. Weve never had a label tell us what to do with the music or tell us to add anything. Still, its a freaking freak-enstance that anyones ever heard the stuff. Freakwater was discovered seeping into a Louisville cellar, so to speak. In 1989, Irwin and Bean rented a four-track tape deck and harmonized on some old Carter family songs in the Bean familys basement. Amoeba Records, whod been handling Beans other band, Eleventh Dream Day, heard the tape and built it into a record. That self-titled debut, along with its follow-up, Dancing Underwater, are both out of print now. Bassist Dave Gay, who joined to fill out the band for the first record, has been on board ever since, and pedal steel player Bob Egan came on full-time last year. Musically, Freakwaters sound is pretty straight, primitive traditional. Luther Perkins would be proud of the way Bean and Irwin hammer on and chip away at their old flat-tops. Gays bumpy bottom and Egans just-so twang tie those front porch sounds together nicely. The tunes will slow you down for a listen, but its Irwins lyrics that will send you back to the bottle or the volume knob or both. I guess Im pretty lucky as a songwriter, says Irwin, laughing. A lot of really horrible stuff has happened to me. The horrible stuffthats all true. The little details I kind of make up to flesh things out. The tear-in-my-beer song has become a noble genre in country music. Irwin taps into a literal, real-time world that makes Walking the Floor Over You or Move It On Over seem like sock-hop fodder. The new, cool-rockin Waitress Song is a handy example: If I didnt come home every day smelling like fried eggs, If I didnt have these veins popping out all over my legs, If I had my hair done up real nice; If I had some clothes that werent too tight, Would you still be coming home drunk in the middle of the night? Irwin says that when Freakwater plays in Europe, their music is considered traditional American folk and they play traditional music venues. Here in the states, they play rock clubs, often with rock bands. (Their upcoming Knoxville headline gig is a day off from their opening slot on the Wilco tour.) She says that generally the response to Freakwaters homegrown harmony is enthusiastic, and that lately folks have actually come to shows to see them. In certain, tiny circles, Freakwaters reputation is eclipsing even those of the stretch Levis and CMA set. NPR did a feature on American bands that are more popular in Europe than they are here, Irwin relates, suppressing laughter. They mentioned our name, and my mom heard it. A few days later I overheard her telling her neighbor that her daughters band was the most popular group in Europe. I didnt correct her, but now that neighbor probably thinks Im over in Europe living like Cher and wont even buy my mom a new car.  MUSIC/FREAK/5.30 uPhoto@J0Metro@…@†t@‡@‡B@ˆ@ˆ‰@QŠq‹@‹Œ'@Œt@#&@Ž @M @v @|9<=MHQ ;C $%8:;@ @  H@ TUe|QP c9:;uDE y$89:;! !! !!!!!# ;;y;@$@ ;    """R"S&C)L)M3?3@3A3B888888888889999999999999999999:u:v:w:x:y:z:{:|:}:~:::::::;;QHH(FG(HH(d'@=/R@H-:LaserWriter 8 New YorkpppEE