Miss Freddye has long been a cornerstone of the Pittsburgh blues scene, a singer whose voice carries the gravitas of experience and the warmth of gospel. With her latest single, Slippin’ Away, she adds another potent entry to her catalog—a ballad that speaks plainly and powerfully to the slow dissolution of love.
Written by the late Mike Lyzenga in 2018, Slippin’ Away is blues in its purest emotional form. There’s no trickery here, no overproduction or studio polish. Just a story, told slow and straight, with the kind of phrasing and pacing that marks a veteran vocalist who knows exactly how long to hold a note—and when to let it go.
Miss Freddye produced the track herself, a wise decision that puts her in full control of the song’s dynamics and tone. The recording, made at Red Caiman Media in Pittsburgh, is understated but full of feeling. Her band—Mike Huston (guitar), Jeff Conner (keys), Greg Sejko (bass), and Bob Dicola (drums)—are tasteful and intuitive. Huston’s guitar lines bend with sorrow, while Conner’s organ lines drift like incense through the track. The rhythm section keeps things grounded, giving the song room to breathe without losing momentum.
It’s Freddye’s voice, though, that steals the spotlight. She approaches the lyrics with emotional honesty, never forcing the sentiment but letting it rise organically from the melody. When she sings, “I feel you slipping through my hands / like water I can’t hold,” it’s not just a lyric—it’s a lived moment. Her delivery is seasoned, controlled, and heartbreaking.
A long-standing advocate of traditional blues and gospel, Miss Freddye has earned accolades from the Blues Foundation and performed with her two bands—The Blues Band and Miss Freddye’s Homecookin’ Band—throughout the region and beyond. Her reputation as a torchbearer for American roots music is well earned, and Slippin’ Away only reinforces her position as one of the genre’s most quietly compelling voices.
Critics across the board have responded warmly to the single. OriginalRock called it a “masterful testament to her emotional range,” while SkopeMag highlighted its “soul-baring” quality. And it’s true—this is a song that isn’t flashy, but it stays with you. It feels like something you’d hear on a jukebox in a small-town bar just before last call, when the room is quiet and everyone’s thinking about someone they lost.
In today’s landscape, where so much of the blues gets drowned in bombast or sanitized into Americana lite, Miss Freddye’s approach is refreshingly direct. Slippin’ Away is not a reinvention—it’s a reminder. A reminder that the blues is still the music of truth. It tells us what we’re afraid to say out loud and lets us sit in the feeling for a while, without rushing to fix it.
For fans of slow-burning, soul-drenched blues ballads, Slippin’ Away is a must-listen. For those unfamiliar with Miss Freddye, this is an ideal entry point into her world—a place where heartache is honored, and every song is a prayer for clarity and healing.
Miss Freddye’s Slippin’ Away is more than a strong single—it’s a reaffirmation of the blues as a living, breathing language of the soul. In a culture too quick to move on, she lingers in the moment, honoring the ache with every breath. There’s no rush to resolution here, no push toward false uplift. Instead, what you get is honesty, patience, and grace. This is the blues as it’s meant to be: not just a genre but a form of emotional literacy. Freddye reminds us that some songs don’t just tell a story—they become part of our own. Listen close.
In short: Slippin’ Away doesn’t shout. It doesn’t need to. It sings the truth—and that’s more than enough.