Kyle Frederick

Kyle Frederick

“Silence, You Ravens,” is Nashville-based Kyle Frederick’s seventh solo outing, and a milestone in the Americana rocker’s recording career. Longtime co-producer Byron House convinced Frederick to record a full album of live in-studio solo performances featuring the artist’s vocals and expert acoustic guitar work. No overdubs or additional musicians appear the tracks. But the record is far from an “unplugged” rehash of old material. Ravens features intense, intimate performances of twelve new tunes, eleven written by Frederick and one co-written with his friend Phillis Rambsy.

A prolonged stay in Europe, during which Russia invaded Ukraine, proved a wellspring of material, as did the birth of a new family member and the passing of Frederick’s mother. Musically, the material ranges from supple fingerpicked ballads like “Life on a Hill” to rambunctious rockers like “Planet Nine,” and Frederick’s six-string skills and heartfelt vocals never fail to impress. Lyrically, the album is Frederick’s most ambitious yet. Several songs address difficult issues both personal and historical, including the long and often dark shadow history casts on current events. But listeners will find hope, humor, humanity and the determination to learn and move forward as well.

Co-producer House is particularly proud of how powerfully the songs and studio performances intertwine. “I had been dreaming of making a record of Kyle’s solo performances. ‘Silence You Ravens’ captures and reveals for the first time ever the brilliance and beauty in the essence of Kyle’s poetry and musicality.”

Kyle Frederick has spent decades working on the creative and business sides of the music industry. Growing up in Kentucky, Frederick began playing guitar at the age of seven. He started working as a professional musician in his early teens, and played lead guitar in a popular regional rock act.

When the band broke up, Frederick headed to Nashville, landing gigs with artists such as Joe Sun, Earl Thomas Conley and Foster & Lloyd. His recorded work with Sun and Conley found him playing beside legends like Randy Scruggs, Steve Scruggs and Jim Horn. National television appearances included “The Tonight Show,” “CBS This Morning,” “Nashville Now,” “Hee Haw” and four episodes of “Austin City Limits.”

Frederick recorded “In This House,” a solo album of originals produced by Byron House, in 1991. He toured with a major country act before moving into management, handling multi-platinum artists and their associated charities. He also worked in public relations, aiding Liz Thiels impressive efforts supporting the grand opening of the new Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. But making music was never far from his mind, and he continued to write songs.

Frederick returned to recording in 2008. In 2012, he signed a publishing and production partnership deal with Doug Howard, owner and president of Vandermont Music Group. The rootsy “Eventide” reunited Kyle with Byron House, who recorded and co-produced. An impressive list of guest appearances included Emmylou Harris, John Cowan, Gordon Kennedy and Kim Richey. Frederick’s successful production partnership with House continues to this day.

Frederick followed “Eventide” with “Already November” in 2018. The pandemic shutdown gave Frederick more time to write, and both the melodic, rocking “Mother Humble” EP and the thoughtful and rollicking Americana LP “Burn Your Poor Mouth Down” appeared in 2020. The eclectic “Mr. Mercurial,” which included a rousing duet with gospel great Odessa Settles, was released in 2022.

Kyle Fredrick’s newest solo album, “Silence, You Ravens,” co-produced and recorded by Byron House, offers twelve new songs and is currently available in popular digital formats. Compact discs are available on kylefrederickmusic.com.

Byron House

Grammy-nominated bass player Byron House was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he grew up playing a variety of instruments and enjoying many different styles of music. At age 17, he chose bass as his main instrument. Originally inspired by Jaco Pastorius, he focused on fretless electric bass, and soon began playing upright and fretted electric bass as well. House trained classically with Ernest Szugyi at Western Kentucky University, and in recent years has studied with jazz legend/master bassist Ron Carter.

Over the course of his career, Byron has played with luminaries such as Al Green, Amy Grant, Brady Blade, Sr & The Hallelujah Train, Buddy & Julie Miller, Chris Cornell, Chris Thile, Dixie Chicks, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Douglas, Johnny Cash, Jorma Kaukonen, Keith & Kristyn Getty, Linda Ronstadt, Mark O’Connor, Nickel Creek, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell, Sam Bush, Solomon Burke and Vince Gill. In 2010-11 he recorded and toured with Robert Plant as a member of his Band Of Joy. Since early 2021, Byron has been touring and recording with celebrated singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken.

House has made TV appearances with many of these artists, performing on shows hosted by Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Johnny Carson and Jools Holland, as well as “Austin City Limits,” “Crossroads,” “Live from the Artists Den,” and The Grammy Awards telecast.

Byron’s credits as producer include Jorma Kaukonen’s “Stars In My Crown,” The Waybacks’ “Loaded,” and Kyle Frederick’s albums, including “Mr. Mercurial,” and Tina Lie’s “Free Enough To Fall.”