__________________________________________________________________

BILLBOARD MAGAZINE:
The International Newsweekly of Music, Video, and Home Entertainment

February 23rd, 2002

"Continental Drift" by Larry Flick

*WELL WORTH MENTIONING*

Skott Freedman believes that his musical career began at the tender
age of 6, when he learned how to play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
on his family's small electric organ. After practicing in the basement of his
house until it was "moving enough" to draw tears, he dragged his parents
downstairs to listen. They hesitantly smiled and said, "Um...good honey,
keep working at it..."

He did exactly that. Sixteen years later, Freedman has developed into one of
the more compelling pop singer/tunesmiths we've heard in recent times. His
work has been both nationally and internationally recognized as listeners are
becoming increasingly aware of this 22-year-old star-in-waiting each year.

"It's been gratifying to have my music embraced by so many people," the
artist says. "When you pour yourself into a song, you pray that it will
resonate with people. Still, when it does, it's a wonderful, pleasant
surprise."

This past year, Freedman performed at more than 30 colleges around
the U.S. promoting his fine, self-made disc, Anything Worth Mentioning.
Freedman's impressive three-and-a-half octave voice varies in its flexibility,
ranging from fiery outbursts in the song "Fairytales" ("Well it can't always be
like the fairytales that we used to believe, and sooner or later time's gonna
run out") to the more subtle tracks, smothered in political texture ("I'm sad
for feeling sad 'cause I know that there's an outbreak that's going made/
Science said it won't be so bad, well..."). Rich in tone and pungent with
emotion, Freedman uses his voice as a true instrument, varying the
expression and intensity with every note.

A native of New Jersey, Freedman grew up a child piano prodigy,
winning statewide competitions by the time he was 15. It was then that
he began straying off the path of his classical mentors, writing music that
was hauntingly beautiful and further developing his taste for dissonance. In
many of his songs today, Freedman uniquely sustains a note just a second
longer than the listener expects and then suddenly resolves it. In his faster
songs, his fingers fly across the piano with notable speed and accuracy.
Other times, Freedman performs the most tender of ballads and uses his
soft attack and delicate grace notes to make the piano breathe of him.

Lyrically, Freedman also excels in his undeniable talent for writing
personal songs that still connect to his listeners. "Freedman's lyrics
offer consistent vision into his thoughts and emotions, rather than the
occasional glimpses that most songwriters seem to offer," noted The Hoya,
Georgetown University's student newspaper, after a performance last
year. Freedman keeps the listener interested, covering subjects as light as
skinny dipping to the intense, darker side of such things as the suicide of
a homosexual teenager. He is a true songwriter, with each song unfolding a
story that initially invites the listener in, offers someinsight into one of
many raw emotions, and then gently shuts the door again.

"There's no point in writing music without honesty," he says. "Otherwise,
it rings false, staged. I always want my music to strike an emotional cord.
I want it to leave you thinking, feelings, and somehow changed."

Freedman's first disc, 1999's Swimming After Dark, has sold more than
2,000 copies to date, according to the artist. It received favorable reviews
from national publications in Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta. Anything Worth
Mentioning is Freedman's first full-band effort, and it's earned equally positive
notices in recent months. The set is also receiving airplay on more than 25 college
and specialty radio programs in the U.S.