1. Jeffrey Frederick was a largely uncredited predecessor of today's alternative country music genre.
14 Facts About Jeffrey Frederick
1. 2.
Jeffrey Frederick went so far as to become an Eagle Scout, but quit the Scouts at age 14 to start his first band, the Renegades.
3.
Jeffrey Frederick's songs were almost invariably inspired by real people and events.
4.
Jeffrey Frederick moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1975 at the urging of the Holy Modal Rounders' Robin Remaily.
5.
Jeffrey Frederick's singing partner, Jill Gross, joined him later that year, and together they started the Clamtones on the West Coast.
6.
Jeffrey Frederick came back to Portland alone and formed a new band, Les Clams.
7.
Les Clams rocked the area until Jeffrey Frederick moved to the Comstock region of Nevada in 1983.
8.
The Jeffrey Frederick Band became wildly popular among the infamous saloons of Virginia City, the clubs of Reno and Lake Tahoe, and the bars of Dayton, Yerington and Fallon, Nevada.
9.
On New Year's Eve, 1983, Jeffrey Frederick married Kathryn Noel Bennett and informally adopted her children.
10.
Jeffrey Frederick was recording a new album with his Nevada band when he received a nearly fatal head injury in 1986.
11.
Jeffrey Frederick reformed the Clams and began working with old colleagues and new musicians such as Turtle Vandemarr, Kevin "Bingo" Richey, and Jim Boyer.
12.
Highly charismatic and an inveterate prankster, Jeffrey Frederick achieved near-legendary status both within and without the musical community.
13.
Jeffrey Frederick was survived by his wife, Kathryn, her children Robyn and Paul Bennett, his son, Jake Ray, his sister, Eileen Gilander, and his parents.
14.
Jeffrey Frederick's surviving band members, proteges and admirers are currently recording a series of tribute albums highlighting his songwriting, the first of which was released by Jeffrey Frederick Productions in Fall, 2008.