Roger Street Friedman is a singer, songwriter, activist, husband and a father of two, from Sea Cliff, NY. In 2017, Roger released the masterful album, Shoot The Moon. It’s a full-emotional spectrum collection of vivacious and reflective vignettes from real life that recalls the singer-songwriter tradition of Marc Cohn, Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Mark Knopfler and Robbie Robertson. In an age of irony, few songwriters are this brave in their vulnerability. The album received national airplay and reached #2 on the Roots Music Report’s Americana Album chart, where it spent over 25 weeks in the top 20. Roger’s song “Everyday,” which won second place in Unsigned Only 2019’s Americana category and honorable mention in Folk/Singer-Songwriter—is the first single from this album.
Critic Bill Bentley said, “[Roger] writes with the wisdom of someone who’s seen his share of living, and actually was savvy enough to take notes along the way…” and called Shoot The Moon “one of the best albums” of the year.
Previously, Friedman garnered acclaim for his debut, The Waiting Sky. Champions for the album included USA Today, No Depression, American Songwriter, Relix Magazine, MSN, The Alternate Route, Elmore Magazine and the New York Daily News. He’s toured regionally, performed on Today in Nashville, opened for such venerated artists as Los Lobos and The Blind Boys of Alabama and shared festival stages with Amy Helm and Dar Williams. For the past two years Roger has been dividing his time between New York and Nashville where he’s been writing and performing.
Roger teamed up with folk greats Tom Chapin, Guy Davis, Joel Rafael and Peter Yarrow on his track “Sun Never Sets,” which is a compelling protest song in support of all immigrants. He is using the song to raise awareness of and support for groups that provide legal, financial and educational assistance to immigrants and refugees.
In 2019, Roger performed at the Clearwater Festival, the Huntington Folk Festival and was a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Grassy Hill Emerging Artist. He is a formal showcasing NERFA artist and his third full-length album, which was produced by Larry Campbell, will be released this spring.