GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. - Stephanie Dodd and Justin Badger make up the folk-country duo known as The Fremonts. After meeting in New York City and then moving to Boulder, Colorado, they’ve been based in Great Barrington since 2019.

“It’s songs about how we feel about having kids, how we feel about politics, how we feel about mental health journeys, things like that,” said Dodd. “And actually in the Berkshires, we found a super supportive audience for that kind of writing here.” 

What You Need To Know

  • The Fremonts spent a week in March touring and playing music in Tajikistan
  • The duo was invited on the trip by the U.S. Embassy in the central Asian country
  • They spent the trip playing with local musicians and shooting a new music video
  • They learned how to play a song in Tajiki, which will stay in their set

Last year, they received an opportunity which seemed too good to be true.

“We just got an email in the fall from this guy named Darren Theis, who said ‘I work at the embassy in Dushanbe for Tajikistan, and we’d love to invite you to come out to tour Tajikistan and play your music,’” said Dodd. “And we were like, well, this is a scam.”

But it was a genuine offer backed by the U.S. State Department, and the duo spent a week this past march touring the central Asian country, playing with local musicians, and shooting a new music video.

“The overwhelming acceptance and warmth and welcoming of us was just absolutely astounding,” said Badger. “It really filled our hearts up. It was just amazing. And it’s a beautiful country too.”

They even learned how to play a song in Tajikistan’s national language, Tajiki. Dodd said the experience will have a lasting impact on them and their music.

“We’re definitely going to keep it as part of our set as we go on,” said Dodd of the new song. “We’d like to learn other songs in other languages as well. It just enhances the sound so much.