(gentle guitar music) - My name's Dandy L. Freling.

I'm originally from Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

I've been rambling and moving around since I was 18.

I left home with $500 in my pocket and my guitar.

(gentle music) Busking on the streets with train hoppers and stuff was kind of my scene for a while.

And I also had the opportunity to really learn about my sound, and storytelling and songwriting.

I soon made my way to Milwaukee to get back into the city scene, which I really enjoy being in the city.

It was rough, I mean, when I moved here too, I also didn't have a vehicle at the time.

I had sold my Jeep Cherokee that had gone south before I went north.

(Dandy laughs) My name's Dandy L. Freling and today, I am going to play a couple songs for y'all.

When I'm writing these stories, it could be something completely made up or it could be, like, a feeling or something that I experienced.

And whenever I write a song, it's always about a character.

It's always about somebody else.

♪ Farmer gets to sowing ♪ ♪ The mule gets to mowing♪ It took me a while to kind of find the folks that really made me feel like I belong somewhere, especially with my music.

I mean, I was kind of galloping all around the east side and Brady Street, which I realized wasn't really quite my scene.

And as I got to meet more people and I played my first show.

♪ Here comes a storm, might even been that I've been born ♪ It kind of just opened up a bunch of doors of other people, other songwriters who are doing and have the similar musical goals that I have.

I love Milwaukee, I think it's a really great home base for traveling to other cities.

I mean, just the affordability of living here and the music community, I think it's a really great spot to be able to access, you know, bigger cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.

♪ Her legs are ragged and her hands are sore ♪ ♪ She's got one foot in and out the door♪ There's just so much diversity in Milwaukee.

Being able to write songs and tell my stories and share a space with similar people that enjoy and wanna tell similar stories the way that I do and I've really enjoyed the community that I've been a part of here in Milwaukee.

(light guitar music)