Oct 17, 2003   | COMMENTS     

SINGER-SONGWRITER SKOTT Freedman was performing during one of the many Pride festivals at which he appears each year, when an admirer called him “the gay Billy Joel.” He thanked the man for the compliment, which referred to his impressive piano skills and emotional ballads, then added a correction.

Freedman is bisexual.

“He just stared like I was an alien,” Freedman says. “And then he asked me, ‘Why are you here?’ “

It is this kind of incident that helped to spark Freedman’s idea to compile and produce “Bi The People: A Compilation of Bisexual Artists & Friends.”
Freedman, an independent artist, tours regularly presenting his music as well as educational lectures on bisexuality.

The 24-year-old Charleston, S. C., resident has gathered 16 tracks of widely varying, well-made material including new tracks by Jill Sobule, Bitch and Animal, Pansy Division, and American Idol’s Jim Verraros. The CD will be released Oct. 21 on Violent Yodel Records.

The opening track, Jill Sobule’s “Saw A Cop,” is a country shuffle that plays on the Nashville-style cutesy chorus with “I saw a cop and she pulled me over/Now I think I’m really over you.” Sobule had a hit with “I Kissed A Girl” in 1995.

Laura Love’s “If You Leave Me” is interesting for its unexpected combinations — a voice like Carly Simon meets a band like The Fixx — with a popping bass line that holds it together.

SO FAR NONE of the artists not already openly bisexual are outing themselves by inclusion on the compilation. Freedman is coy about the orientations of the singers, careful not to out anyone who may or may not be questioning.

“I’ve chosen not to talk about the artists’ sexualities,” he says. “Some are not labeling [their orientations] and are interested in being involved, so that’s fine.”

Not wanting to repeat the kind of exclusion bisexuals sometimes experience from the gay and straight worlds, Freedman was determined that “Bi The People” be inclusive.

Melissa Ferrick, an out lesbian and a favorite among female listeners, was recently pictured in Out Magazine with the caption “bi-friendly” as a result of the CD.

“She may lose some fans over that, states Freedman, who says he has the utmost respect for her and her choice to be involved in the project. Ferrick contributes the modern folky “Fighting Chance” that speaks volumes with delicious lyrics of perseverance over addictions to the backdrop of intricate details of a coffee shop conversation.

Lyrics matter throughout “Bi The People.” It is largely a journey toward introspection more than a trip into sexual or political matters, though both are well represented.

Bitch and Animal connect all oppressions, aggressively tackling Eminem’s sexist bravado, fear-mongering politicians, and “all you frat boys dissin’ all the queers” with the hard-hitting rap, “Secret Candy.”

Tom Robinson’s “BoyGirl” drips with eros, tantalizing by never revealing the sex of the object of desire.

Punk rock iconoclasts Pansy Division take the instant replay prize for the hilarious romp, “Luv Luv Luv.”

Gregory Douglass’ track, “Hard,” is likely the exact type of lush ballad Pansy Division lampoons. Erin Hamilton’s rendition of “I Got The Music In Me” and Laya Fisher’s “Dick and Jane” are made for the dance floor, though the Jim Verraros track packs less punch in their wake.

Freedman himself contributes the sweetly rendered “The Price You Paid,” a previously unreleased song chosen specifically for “Bi The People” that questions compromising values for personal success.

Freedman hopes to dispel tired myths that bisexuals “don’t exist” and “are only going through a phase” with the visibility of “Bi The People.”

Proceeds from the compilation will benefit the Bisexual Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting this group.