You may have known him as a recent district tech staff member and White & Gold director, but BHS alum Joel Freimark has most recently written a 900-page book about music. Freimark’s book, The Music Obsessives Guide to Life: Volume One, has been acclaimed by multiple music experts and musicians, including Henry Rollins and Mike Newman.
Freimark’s writing career started in the late ‘90s, when he wrote a column called “The Music Guru” for The Beachcomber.
“The point of music is to share it,” said Freimark. “And if you know about great music, why wouldn’t you want to share that with everyone? That’s why I’m sharing all the great music that I know.”
“My purpose in writing [this book] was so that anybody–whether they have a background in music like mine, or know nothing outside top 40 radio–could get this book and by the end of it have a basic understanding of the major artists of the last hundred years and of all it’s major forms,” Freimark continued. “It’s a reference book for people who want to understand music and get turned on to new music.”
One cannot comprehend the magnitude of his newest release: The Music Obsessive’s Guide to Life: Volume One. Yes, that’s Volume ONE. This is the first in a series of three releases… Releases that, according to the Guru himself, have already been written. The volume, which weighs in at well over four pounds of sheer musical bliss, is a cover-to-cover review comprised of hundreds of song reviews that cover the early twentieth century to the Bush years. However, what is most astonishing is that Freimark was able to put all this into a volume that, quite frankly, could have been far larger.
And for anybody who truly “obsesses” over music, this volume is more than ideal. Chances are you will find only a few familiar songs and artists, and the rest will be completely new.
The book challenges readers to seek out songs or albums by obscure artists. But Freimark makes this challenge achievable by articulating persuasive and endless rolls of knowledge on the musician, song or album itself. His ability to convey the beauty and importance of music is truly unparalleled, and stands to challenge every top fifty or top one hundred best songs or albums review book.
He doesn’t beat around the bush or spend too much time on one select artist or song. Every review is hindered by a one to two page limit-allowing the reader to get what they can out of a song or artist and move on to the next one. For the first time it’s easy to discover and enjoy the nuances of the music world. And so far, the book sales have been impressive.
“I did not think I would be near the number sold now that I am one month in,” said Freimark.
Sure, Freimark enjoyed working at BHS, but now he’s found a much more enjoyable path. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he works on his website, as well as involving himself in the New York-area music scene.
For almost three years, Freimark has been busy updating his blog The Daily Guru which reviews albums or songs. More recently, Freimark has taken to YouTube, sharing his musical opinions in person every day in a weekly sequence. From his “Something Old, Something New” to “Music School,” Freimark has put out many engaging videos educating the masses on anything from a great track from yesteryear, to the history behind Bob Dylan’s legendary electric Newport Music Hall performance.
“I’m going after my dreams as hard as I possibly can,” he said.
You can purchase the book in the link below:
http://thedailyguru.net/Merchandise
You can follow Joel at the following cyber-locations:
Twitter: @TheDailyGuru
Facebook: facebook.com/thedailyguru
YouTube: youtube.com/thedailyguru
Tumblr: thedailyguru.tumblr.com
