Music Calendar…Week of May 11

Local Shows:
May 12: Pretty And Nice – Local 506
May 13: Mastodon – Cats Cradle
May 14: The Thermals – Local 506
                 Josh Kelly + Ryan Cabrera – Lincoln Theater
May 15: Horse Feathers + Joe Pug – Local 506
May 17: Bellafea + Screaming Females – Nightlight
[For a full list of local NC shows, check the concerts page]
 
Album Releases:
May 12: Better Than Ezra – Paper Empire
                Jeremy Enigk – OK Bear
                Meat Puppets – Sewn Together
                Wooden Birds – Magnolia
May 15: Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
[For a full list of upcoming releases, click here] 

Have You Met…Joe Pug?

The story of Joe Pug is an odd one. It goes:

Apparently Pug attended our own UNC-Chapel Hill in hopes of becoming a playwright. One day, sitting at a coffeehouse (perhaps the Caribou on Franklin St. or Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro?) he realized he didn’t exactly like it in our fine southern state. Maybe it was all the sweet tea. Either way, Pug headed north to my personal favorite lakeside city, Chicago. During the day Pug worked as a carpenter and at night picked up the old six string of his youth and began to craft some seriously hard hitting folk tunes.

I knew nothing of Joe Pug and his Dyalnesque music until last week when a few of his live tracks were put up on indie music paradise sight, Daytrotter. After one listen to “Hymn 101” the song started grinding around in my mind and wouldn’t give up. His warm voice sounds warn and abused, the acoustic he sings over harsh and biting. The recordings from his most recent release (though from last April) Nation of a Heart EP sound intimate, as if Pug is sitting with you in your living room. 

Unfortunately, the chance of his doing so anytime soon is slim, as his touring steers clear of his old state. One day Joe, one day.

[Joe Pug – Hymn 101]