What would you like people to know about you? For your biography.
Maybe that I work tirelessly, that I abuse my mind and body sometimes in the pursuit of good work. I love my stupid career and wish more people like me seemed to have any amount of fun at all at making art. It's been a five year blur.
What about your training, accolades, accomplishments? Something they can use to measure your progress.
I'm an accidental songwriter. An autodidact. I learned literature and wrote fiction and then Dan Bern tricked me into making a career out of a side-project. I am a total student of edgy revival-era songwriters and late-twentieth century counter-mainstream writing.
How did Dan Bern trick you?
He played songs that seemed to mean a lot to him and painted a picture of what punk rock looked like after a tussle with Woody Guthrie. He happened to be the open stage feature at my first open-mic effort (Bern, not Guthrie).Who, since we've brought him up, would probably love The Clash and Rancid and Billy Bragg and all that.
Were you a punk-rocker before a folk musician?
I was a suburban college student with unclear aspirations.
Are you counter-mainstream?
I haven't asked. Maybe the mainstream will decide one day. There's probably a fine line between being outside the mainstream and being ignored.
Do you think you're successful?
I do when I play a song on stage with Bill Miller. I do when I get to open for somebody I like a lot. I feel successful when the person who gave me the work comes out of it believing in what they did. Otherwise I just strive to stay busy.
