I was bleary eyed and exhausted from the marathon photo shoot the day before, 14 hours of non stop walking and shooting bands at Denver’s Mile High Music Festival. Photography and music are my passions but even I was a bit burned and didn’t even feel like getting up and getting back to the venue that Sunday morning, but I did, for one reason alone. I had an interview with Joe Pug.
I had been listening to his new album Nation of Heat for a week now and every listen confirmed my initial reaction of “this really might be the next Bob Dylan”, he struck a chord in me that few musicians do, M. Ward was the last to do so and before that Jackie Green, and before that Van Morrison but very few do.
Check out these lyrics from Hymn #101 form his album, if this isn’t genius I’m not sure what is;
And I’ve come to meet the legendary takers
I’ve only come to ask them for a lot
Oh they say I come with less
than I should rightfully posses
I say the more I buy the more I’m bought
And the more I’m bought the less I cost
And I’ve come to take their servants and their surplus
And I’ve come to take their raincoats and their speed
I’ve come to get my fill
To ransack and spill
I’ve come to take the harvest for the seed
I’ve come to take the harvest for the seed
Below is a video of this song, I dare you to watch it, and you tell me if it doesn’t put chills down your spine. Joe Pug – “Hymn 101″
Now those are lyrics, epic lyrics not found very often these days and the passion and intensity of his voice combine to draw you in hard. I had to keep reminding myself to take photos, I would just be stunned by what I was hearing, trying hard to be present, be in the moment, truly let the music flow over me, into me and change me at least for a while.
Joe told a great anecdote about playing at a festival a few weeks prior where he was in one tent playing and Kiss was in another, he said there was no one in my tent, then laughed and said “I gotta hand it to to Kiss though, their pyrotechnics were far better than mine”.
After his show I mentioned I had arranged an interview and we spoke briefly but he was late for his next gig and had a plane to catch, which was good news to my ears since I had missed every interview I had lined up the day before and now at least I had a valid reason for missing this one. He did chat with a few fans, and pose for a few mug shots with them as well. I will be seeing him again on August 15th at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival in Lyon’s Colorado and can’t wait to get another good listen.
Here is video from his webiste and one I shot at the Mile High Music Festival.
I’ve been raving now for several paragraphs but if you don’t believe me check out what others are saying about Joe:
“While most singer/songwriters are content to warble out a few semi-clever turns of phrase, Pug’s scorching poetry and soulful, ‘every phrase could be my last’ voice will stop you cold. If you want to read the actual endorsement, touch the braille stretching up my arms. Twenty years from now, lazy journalists will compare every halfway decent songwriter to Joe Pug. Mark my words.” –Jason Killingsworth, Deputy Editor, Paste Magazine
“One of the most surprising facts about singer-songwriter Joe Pug is that he’s only 23 years old. Not only does Chicago-based singer have a beautifully mature voice, but the lyrics on Pug’s debut EP, Nation of Heat, possess wisdom seemingly beyond his age.” – NPR
“Even if the words singer-songwriter make you groan and cringe, I dare you to come to the Hideout to see Joe Pug and not develop goosebumps…His star is rising so catch him while you can.” –Time Out Chicago
“Fans of quality songwriting need to hunt down a copy of Nation of Heat.” –My Old Kentucky Blog
“In Pug’s hard plucking, exaggerated choruses, and lyrical vignettes you can draw a pretty straight line from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen to Steve Earle to Josh Ritter. Like all of them, Pug is a populist at heart, a singer who can’t help but talk about all of us when he sings about himself and can’t help but sing about himself when he’s talking about all of us……”Hymn 101″ is full of lines that will fill you with both heartbreak and euphoria. It’s good to be reminded that that’s why we listen to music in the first place. –3Hive
“Every word here is just amazingly beautiful…packed with symbolism and pure poetry…..Let Joe Pug give you back faith in folk music and truly marvelous singer-songwriters.” –Delusions of Adequacy
“Pug is the real deal. The kid’s got that weariness in his delivery that you can’t smoke or drink your way to because it comes from somewhere deeper than the vocal chords. It’s the same gritty, spirited voice that made Hank I, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Dylan iconic….We as Chicagoans will be privileged enough to watch the kid develop from precocious youngster to out and out star.” –Chicagoist
“One of the most unfathomably masterful debuts I’ve heard in recent memory.” –Captain Obvious
“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….the album has still not left my player. It will be one of the best EP’s of 2008.” –Hear Ya
“Staggering in its courage and rich in its symbolism” –Twang Nation
Below is Joe’s Bio:
The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, Joe Pug sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest.
Pug packed up his belongings and drove the longest route possible to Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn’t picked up since his teenage years. Using ideas originally slated for a play he was writing called “Austin Fish,” Pug began creating the sublime lyrical masterpiece that would become the Nation of Heat EP.
The songs were recorded fast and fervently at a Chicago studio where a friend snuck him in to late night slots other musicians had canceled. He was short on money, but his bare-boned sincerity didn’t require much more than a microphone and it dripped off of each note he sang.
In May of 2008, Pug played the first headlining slot of his young career to a sold out crowd at Chicago’s storied Schubas Tavern. Two weeks later he released the Nation of Heat EP, which has garnered near-universal critical acclaim and established him as one of the most respected songwriters of his generation. Pug has since played shows with Todd Snider, Susan Tedeschi, Kasey Chambers, and James Hunter. He plans to release his debut full length record in 2009.
GonzoShots.com is a photography website dedicated to the promotion of live music.
HST Quote of The Week
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
this kid is the real deal…he’s gonna be huge…kudos to you for recognizing his genius. art ledbetter