Dandy Freling

Dandy L. Freling is a singer-songwriter whose country-folk style knows how to be both sensitive and catchy. Some of her biggest influences are Bob Dylan, Mickey Newbury, and Gordon Lightfoot. Originally from Massachusetts, she lived in Texas and Colorado for some time before relocating to Milwaukee, and she’s been here for about four years now. “A good friend brought me out here,” she explained. “I was living in a small foothill town in Colorado and was looking for a city atmosphere with more diversity, music, art, and culture.”

In 2021, Freling released a three-song EP titled Lost & Bound Recordings which was mixed by Johanna Rose. “Before they moved to Vermont,” Freling said, “they had a show and asked me to play guitar on some of their songs. We were having a practice and asked me if I had any recordings out…which I said no…and they said we needed to change that right now. So it was very impromptu; they set up the mic and recording software and I just played for like a half hour just doing one take of a few songs, and I came up with that informal EP out of it. Johanna is such a great mentor and is just so incredible.”

Since then, Freling’s been working on new music; next month she’ll be in Minneapolis working on an album with Erik Koskinen. “Coming to Milwaukee was the first time I’ve really had a live music career and have met the right people.” Freling said. “It’s time to throw down some tracks.”