Sooooo......I ha
Soooo. I had never been to TheFirebird. But this last Saturday night they had one of my favorites Joe Pug into town. I have seen him at least 5 times and despite his patently commercial name the guy writes fabulous, meaningful folk/rock. I have been loving this guy seems I heard the song “Hymn 101”:
Soooo. I had never been to TheFirebird. But this last Saturday night they had one of my favorites Joe Pug into town. I have seen him at least 5 times and despite his patently commercial name the guy writes fabulous, meaningful folk/rock. I have been loving this guy seems I heard the song “Hymn 101”:
“And I've come to roam the forest past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart
I've come here to get high,
To do more than just get by.
I've come to test the timber of my heart
Oh, I've come to test the timber of my heart
And I've come to be untroubled in my seeking
And I've come to see that nothing is for naught
I've come to reach out blind
to reach forward and behind
For the more I seek the more I'm sought
Yea, the more I seek the more I'm sought.”
NPR did a little piece just on this song:
This was my first trip to The Firebird. Not for lack of trying. They have brought a lot of good acts there over the years but I just… never made it. It is right off of Olive kind of behind the old A.G. Edwards (whatever that is now) and though it fronts on Olive, parking is behind it and you really don’t notice it unless you pay attention (never a strogng suit). It has been a long time since I really felt like I was “in a good room”. The much lamented Mississippi Nights, despite everyone’s best intentions has never been really replaced. We had lost Ciceros Basement sometime before that and there just was a void. Off Broadway sucked and though it has improved there was still no place that was just…. a room. The Firebird could be 
anyone’s suburban basement. Just a big, flat room with a stage and a dance floor. We were lucky enough to get some deating in one of the half dozen booths off to the side and we… had us a time.
anyone’s suburban basement. Just a big, flat room with a stage and a dance floor. We were lucky enough to get some deating in one of the half dozen booths off to the side and we… had us a time.
He does a solo act and he also comes out with a band and in any case always puts on a great show. Chicago is the home base but he tours nationally. His last albumis from 2012 and is called “The Great Despiser”. He had two prior EP’s and another LP called “Nations Of Heat”. 
A nice bio can be found on his site:
A nice bio can be found on his site:
Each one of the releases has some brilliant songs on it. One of the problems on all his albums is they are all of such an even, high quality that they seem kind of interchangable.
The same can be said for his live shows. He has a very tight little three piece band and they fricking OWN his songs. His voice in consistent and he has learned a lot in the last 4 years of hard core touring. He works the crowd and plays a tight set frought with with nuance and meaning. It is music to pay attention to and the crowd at the Firebird was respectful and quiet, almost eerily so for what was close to a full house by the time he went on.
Anyway, check out Joe Pug (Pugliese) when you have a chance. Whether life or on one of his CD’s it is what music is all about.
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