THE BAND
Freedom Road was formed in 2006 after the young people involved decided to record the songs they had been working on in workshops. Since then they have sold over 1500 copies of the two CD’s they have made, with more coming soon!
You can hear tracks from their CD’s ‘Song for Wilberforce’ (2007) and their new one ‘All My Life’ (2008) on the Listen and Watch Page. You can also watch the music videos to accompany some of the tracks!
Although the line-up is always changing when people move on or new ones join, at the moment Freedom Road are: Jess, Sophie, Caine, Sammy and Chic.
Freedom Road travel to Sydney in early February to perform at the CREATE Foundations National Summit. The band were invited by Jacqui Reed the CEO of CREATE who saw the group perform at Keble College Oxford at a Care Matters event in July 2008. Joining long standing members Jess and Becky will be Kita, Caine, Kyra and Lisa.
Freedom Road returned from their time in Australia in late February 2009 and have since done a few local gigs around the region, most notably at the North Yorkshire Care Matters Conference in Selby and at the Platform to Success event in Hull. The band are now writing new material which will be showcased very soon.
In February 2010 Becky and Caine decided it was time to move on and this opened the door for Sammie Watson to join the group. 2010 has therefore so far been a year of transformation for the group and they have been busy rehearsing some cover versions to add to their set, and the release of a new CD with tracks such as "Are You Ready", "Catch Me" and the brilliant "What You Gonna Do", will be out very soon.
21 August 2010
Freedom Road come of age!
On August19th at the Village Hotel, supporting the X Factor's Jamie "Afro" Archer, Freedom Road showed the massive progression they have made over the past 6 months with a brilliant, polished and professional set which included all 4 songs which feature on the new CD "Catch Me". Invited to perform, not because they are a local charity band that people like to invite because "it's the charitable thing to do"; but because they are a very very good band, who work hard, have developed some great harmomies and some cracking new tunes, most notably "Perfect Relationship" and the wonderful solo "What You Gonna Do?" by Jess Hunter, Freedom Road didn't look out of place alongside some established acts.
In fact it could have been argued that the talent of the Band shone through as their set was full of tuneful, catchy and original material, which left the crowd scrambling to buy the new CD's.
And as for the rest of the night. Jamie Archer was as expected a great act, his set littered with the songs which he performed on the X Factor, such "Sex on Fire" and "Valerie", and to top it all off Freedom Road had their photos taken with him as some way of remembering the night. I just wonder how long it will be before Jamie is support act to them!!!!
In February 2011 Freedom Road decided to call it a day and after 4 years of being together, performing on a local, regional, national and international stage the band will no longer exist. However on a more positive note this has opened up the opportunity for our Saturday singing groups to step up and become the flagship of the charity under the name "The Freedom Road Collective".
21 May 2011
Freedom Road Collective have a busy summer in store
The Freedom Road Collective, who were formed after Freedom Road called time on 3 great years together, are busy getting ready for a summer that will see them play in Bridlington and at the Hull City Hall in June, at the Withersea Festival in July and at Tribfest and the Freedom Festival in August. Other dates will probably be added to this as we aim to also hold a showcase event in late June/early July.
Made up of around 20 young people who meet up on a Saturday morning, the Freedom Road Collective are already creating a name for themselves with fine performances at the KC Stadium and at the Warren's Live Hull events which were staged at the Street Life Museum.
With Rose Elliott, Jess Hunter, Sammie Watson, Danielle Gray, Sammy Christian and Shaunna Pearce establishing themselves as confident and talented solo performers and with the wonderful Saturday Gleeks made up of Molly, Jordan, Celine, Bobby, Elle, Toni, Nathan, Sally Anne, Dylan, Luke, Dionne, Emily, Jack and Lucy performing numbers such as Total Eclipse of the Heart and Let it Be to a cracking standard, the Freedom Road Collective are a group on the up!
CLICK SONGS TO LISTEN:
HEARTBEATS
TRIBFEST 2011
The Freedom Road Collective had a hugely successful 2011 with superb performances at Tribfest, The Freedom Festival, The Trinity Festival, at several events staged at the Hull History Centre and at the launch event of the Pledge for Looked After Children at the Guildhall to name a few. (To follow what was achieved please check the news stories).
Because of this the young people have built a cracking reputation and 2012 is going to be even bigger and busier with the Cottinham Springboard Festival, The Humber Mouth Festival and a new regular Live and Unpeeled Open Mic afternoon run at the Polar Bear, being added to the calendar.
So look out and catch the Freedom Road Collective somewhere in the region this year. You won't be disappointed!!!
