Local Guitarist Shows Game

Blaxmyth on Bodog Nation, our lad Freak, far left

There once was a DC guitarist named Fred Smith. He was whack. This guitarist now lives in Los Angeles, and is legally named Freak, and yes, he is still whack. One name. Like Cher, Madonna, Prince, and Bono. Believe it. He showed me his driver's license last time we met up over a couple of beers at the Big Hunt here in Dupont Circle. And of course, the new moniker fits him like an OJ glove. But this fellow named Freak is way beyond whack these days.

As the record will will show Fred played in several local 80s bands including Beefeater, Madhouse and Strange Boutique. Now operating as Freak, the guitarist yearns to return to his band American Corpse Flower with their hit song "God God God", but that ambition has been quietly simmering on one of the back burners as he pursued fame and fortune in the Bodog Nation reality show in a kickass Ghetto metal band called Blaxmyth.

This 10-part reality TV series, which began in March 2006 when more than 7,500 bands registered online, peaked in early September as the final three bands took the stage for one last performance. SMS text votes began pouring in after the three performances, ultimately deciding which indie band's dream of winning a $1 million record deal with Bodog Music would come true. The energy at the packed venue was intense: There were screaming fans, guitar smashing, flowing booze and, like any hot Bodog party, Bodog Girls.

It had been a long haul, but Freak had made his mark. The consensus was that for a bunch of hard rockers the bands were thoughtful, hardworking and genuinely excited for one another, or as Freak is quoted, "No one was a dick."

Laura Gosselin, a Bodog Nation contributing writer, adds,"The Mood agreed that their most memorable moment on the show was when Freak from Blaxmyth passed out mid-sentence. After hitting the bar hard, Freak turned to his bandmate Sackraphyce and said, "You know what, fucker?" then hit the floor of the tour bus face first. The Mood mom and registered nurse Kay Peters, who went on tour because her son Ian was 17 at the time, was about to give Freak mouth-to-mouth when he began snoring loudly."

Read it all here.