Uncommon Ground ^ Fred Gillen Jr.

Fred Gillen Jr.
Westchester County, New York- based NYFA (New York Foundation For The Arts) grant recipient Fred Gillen Jr. writes and sings songs with messages of hope, love, and spiritual transformation wrapped up in stories of the struggles and triumphs of the human condition. He has released four CD's independently in the past seven years to great critical acclaim, and his inspired and spontaneous live performances have built him an extensive following on the east coast and beyond. Having toured in most of the U.S.A., as well as Germany, Czech Republic, England, and Ireland, Gillen strives to break down the “fourth wall” between performer and audience, even in countries where a different language is spoken. His fifth CD “Gone Gone Gone:” will be released this summer, and he plans to promote it with extensive touring and radio appearances. For three straight years Gillen was voted “Best Folk Artist” by the readers of Westchester Weekly in that publication’s readers’ poll. Besides performing his own songs, Gillen regularly performs in a Woody Guthrie tribute band, Hope Machine, sponsored by the Woody Guthrie Archives, and is president of non-profit, Hudson Valley music collective Tribes Hill. In his Croton-on-Hudson based Studio Fritz, he produces and records other local and regional artists, helping to get their music documented and heard, usually on shoe-string budgets. On rare nights off, Gillen can usually be found in a local Westchester club or café checking out some live music!