by oz on December 12, 2008
by oz on September 11, 2008
Sorry if you were expecting 100% Dan Auerbach ingredients, but I’ll have a few commercial interruptions. Our boy Joe Pug just released a music video that features him ambling down a dusty road, performing to a handful of strangers at a run down watering hole. Hymn 101 is such a great song. I’m glad the video is simple.
Make sure to catch our live session with Joe Pug, if you haven’t already.
Here are his upcoming tourdates:
9/10 South Bend, IN *
9/18 Chicago, IL Park West >
10/3 Chicago, IL The Hideout (w/ full band)
10/5 Charleston, WV Mountain Stage
10/10 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio #
10/11 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls &
10/12 Westhampton, NY Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center ^
10/14 Buffalo, NY Univ. of Buffalo Performing Arts Center ^
10/15 Harrisburg, PA Whitaker Center^
10/23 New York, NY CMJ Music Marathon @ Arlene’s Grocery
11/1 Ames, IA The Maintainance Shop +
11/2 Dubuque, IA Jansen Music Hall at Clark College+
11/14 Columbia, MO Bluebird Music and Arts Festival
* with Robert Randolph
> with Kasey Chambers
# with Justin Townes Earle
^ with Susan Tedeschi
& with Railroad Earth
+ with Pieta Brown
by oz on September 5, 2008
If you’re in Chicago tonight, do yourself a favor and get to the Metro. Three HearYa live session alums are going to share the stage for an incredible night of music. Ha Ha Tonka, Joe Pug and Backyard Tire Fire (in the studio today) will all be in attendance.
Here’s what the night will sound like:
Exclusive: Joe Pug - Hymn 101 (from the Joe Pug live session)
Exclusive: Ha Ha Tonka - Caney Mountain (from the Ha Ha Tonka live session)
Backyard Tire Fire - The Places We Lived (from their just released album The Places We Lived)
And while I’m at it, let me say a few words about Backyard Tire Fire’s new release, The Places We Lived. I’ve read BYTF’s praises on other blogs for the past year or two and I’m admitedly late to the party. Their prior album, Vagabonds and Hooligans found the guys square in the alt-country genre. The Places We Lived, however, has a grown up pop sound with more varied country, blues and jazz influences.
The band mates still aren’t taking themselves too seriously, but they’ve undergone a spit-polish, kind of like when Wilco migrated from A.M. and Being There on up to Summer Teeth. I’m really excited to hear the output after today’s session and I’ll be wallowing in some self-pity since I no longer live in Chi to enjoy the show.
by oz on May 6, 2008
Not too long ago Drinking Buddy wrote about Pete Molinari, wondering if he was the second coming of Bob Dylan. I appreciated the comparison. It seems that Dylan references abound on this site, recently for bands like Leatherbag and The Felice Brothers, but there will never be another Dylan. I’m just not sure if any musician will ever be that prolific again. Chicago’s Joe Pug shows some serious promise on his debut album, Nation of Heat.
There will never be another Dylan just like there’ll never be another Springsteen, but their influence and spirit will live and breathe in other musician storytellers that can pluck a guitar string, blow into a harmonica, and write songs that have something interesting to say. Which brings me to Joe Pug, straight from the loins of Dylan and The Boss (sorry, I just had a baby so now every artist has to be the child of two other male musicians for some reason).
Joe is a Chicago carpenter and songwriter. He just released an EP called Nation of Heat that had an immediate impact on me. Listening to this album is like waking up on Sunday morning, slipping into a tattered pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. The album is a possession that can become your friend. Kind of like Jack Daniels.
I found it hard to make it past the first track, “Hymn 101,” just because it is so damn good. After taking that song off repeat and listening to the rest of Nation of Heat, I knew I’d be addicted. Here I am, almost a week later, and the album has still not left my player. It will be one of the best EP’s of 2008.
Rocco Labriola, formerly pedal steel/lead guitar in the now defunct Cracklin Moth, is playing with Joe Pug so I’d recommend checking them out around the local Chicago circuit.
MySpace | Website
Joe Pug - Hymn 101
Joe Pug - Call It What You Will
Joe Pug - “Hymn 101″
Joe Pug - “Speak Plainly Diana”
