Video premiere: 'Voice' winner Sawyer Fredericks burns bright in indie clip 'Gasoline'
Three years ago, singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks won Season 8 of The Voice and — though he was only 16 at the time — embarked on one of the most mature and credible careers of any Voice contestant (starting with his coronation song, which was written by his hero Ray LaMontagne). Earlier this year, Fredericks released his independent, self-penned and self-produced “free-range folk” album, Hide Your Ghost. Recorded mainly on analog tape in the cathedral hall of the converted 1896 St. John’s Church that houses Woodstock’s Dreamland Recording Studios, the album marked his much-needed rejection of the “high-gloss major-label treatment” of his post-Voice release. Today, Yahoo Entertainment is excited to premiere the video for the one of the album’s best tracks, “Gasoline.”
“What I like about ‘Gasoline’ is that it can feed many different emotions for me: anger, sadness, and even my dark sense of humor,” Fredericks tells Yahoo.
The stark, elegant video was shot at the Glove Theatre (on the same street where Fredericks gave his first open-mic performance as a kid) in Gloversville, N.Y. Fredericks enlisted a local film company to shoot the clip — in keeping with the upstate New York farm boy’s goal of supporting his community — and on Sunday, June 3, he will play a fundraiser for the renovation of the historic venue, which was built in 1914.
It is clear that Fredericks, who’s now 19, hasn’t changed since he became one of the youngest champs in Voice history. Even back when he won the show, he already knew he’d never stray far from his roots. “I don’t really like the city,” he told Yahoo at the time. “It’s just not really my thing. … I would visit L.A., but it would never be my home. I can take trips and stay in hotels for a while, but I always want to have a farm to come back to.” And it’s Sawyer’s centeredness and sense of self that makes Hide Your Ghost such an intimate listen and the “Gasoline” video such a personal glimpse into his unpretentious world.
Check out a vintage interview with the 16-year-old Sawyer Fredericks below.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
‘The Voice’ Season 13 winner Chloe Kohanski explains why she lowered her voice to be heard
Christina Aguilera slams ‘energy sucker’ show ‘The Voice,’ says she felt ‘suffocated’
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