2025 CDL Song Fest
Friday, Nov. 7 | 6:45–9:30pm | Pasture Barn at Robin Hills Farm | 20390 M-52, Chelsea MI
Join us for music-filled days celebrating the art and craft of songwriting at the our eighth annual CDL Song Fest. Whether you’re a music maker or a music lover, this is your event! Join us Friday evening for a live interview and performance with Freedy Johnston.
Please note that there is a gravel walkway up to the Pasture Barn & tent. Accommodations will be available for those who need assistance.
Song Fest Schedule
Teen Song Fest Showcase Opening Act | 6:45–7:15pm
The top two Teen Showcase acts will have this incredible opportunity to perform for a live audience. Congratulations to Dahlia Berggren and Salma Espino-Barba from Ypsilanti and Chelsea’s Kedron! Cheer on these up-and-coming musicians!
Up Close with Freedy Johnston | 7:30–8pm
Jeremy Baldwin from WEMU Radio interviews singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston about his career, influences, and craft.
Freedy Johnston LIVE! | 8–9:30pm
Freedy Johnston is a singer-songwriter known for his nine rock albums, including his latest, Back on the Road to You (2022). Johnston has taken an unpredictable path throughout his 30-year career. He has a wicked gift for turning a melodic phrase with equal parts’ heart on his sleeve’ troubadour and weaver of mysteries. The Kansas native released his first two records with the widely respected indie label Bar/None. Can You Fly made many ‘Best of the Year’ lists, including, The New York Times, Billboard, and Spin Magazine, to name a few. Johnston will perform a set with original music from his entire discography. Multi-genre singer and CDL Artist in Residence Joy Jan Jones will provide backup vocals on a selection of songs.
Johnston landed a major deal with Elektra Records, and Butch Vig was brought onboard to produce 1994’s This Perfect World. That same year, Rolling Stone named Johnston the ‘Songwriter of the Year’, describing him as “A master storyteller, (who) sketches out full-blown tragedies in a few taut poetic lines.” He then recorded three additional records for Elektra, 1997’s Never Home (produced by Danny Kortchmar), 1999’s Blue Days Black Nights (produced by T Bone Burnett), and 2001’s Right Between the Promises (produced by Cameron Greider). In 2015 the self-funded Neon Repairman was released to critical raves from Stereogum, Paste, The New York Times, and Magnet.
Freedy has also contributed music to films such as The Farrelly Brothers cult classic Kingpin, as well as Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and Kicking and Screaming. A series of albums followed his Elektra output, 2006’s Live at McCabes Guitar Shop, as well as 2010’s Rain on the City. Johnston’s 2022 album, Back on the Road to You, was a return to grace for this gifted songwriter. It embodies the sound of an American original. This record, steeped in wit, humor, pathos, love, and friendship, and drenched with memorable, infectious melodies, reminds us that Johnston is one of the best songwriters of his generation.
Special thanks to the Friends of Chelsea District Library for their support of this program.
