by Greg PratoAlthough he's played all around the U.S. (including stops in New York, Chicago, etc.), blues guitarist Steve Freund is best-known in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born on July 20, 1952, in Brooklyn, NY, his mother (who played classical piano) initially inspired Freund, but it was around the age of 16 when he first picked up the guitar. In 1976, Freund moved to Chicago and began to play regularly with Sunnyland Slim, which then led to gigs playing alongside such blues notables as Hubert Sumlin, Big Walter Horton, Pinetop Perkins, Paul Butterfield, Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, and Little Charlie & the Nightcats. By the late '90s, Freund had begun a regular residency at the bar/club The Saloon in San Francisco, almost always playing alongside blues pianist Wendy DeWitt, while issuing several albums along the way -- Set Me Free, Romance Without Finance, C for Chicago, and I'll Be Your Mule.