JOE PUG:

DOORS AT 7PM / SHOW AT 8PM

INDOOR SHOW

FACEBOOK EVENT

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Joe Pug at Heartwood! We’re in for a treat!

A singer-songwriter known for his lyrical acumen and plaintive harmonica style, Joe Pug dropped out of college and moved to Chicago where he worked as a carpenter before breaking into the city’s music scene.

Since 2008 he has released a string of critically-acclaimed albums and toured heavily in the U.S. and abroad. Paste Magazine wrote of his music: “Unless your surname is Dylan, Waits, Ritter or Prine, you could face-palm yourself to death trying to pen songs half as inspired.”

He has toured with Steve Earle, Levon Helm, The Killers, Justin Townes Earle, Sturgill Simpson, and many others. He has appeared at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and The Newport Folk Festival. His music has appeared on NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” and “Mountain Stage”.

His music has been released by Lightning Rod Records, which features an alumni roster of Jason Isbell, Billy Joe Shaver, and James McMurtry.

Additionally, he is the creator and host of the popular podcast The Working Songwriter.

KYLE KELLER:

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Hometown hero opens the show!

“Kyle Keller is that kind of folk artist that is actually worthy of the name. He is a communicator, a story teller, and a prophet of sorts. He approaches songs in the same way as every good folk and blues singer of old, with a message. I have had the joy of following Kyle over the last few years, and I have seen him blossom into one of the finest young lyricists that I know. I travel to songwriter events all over this country, and to find a poet of his caliber is rare… not to mention a poet of his age. Kyle has a voice that reminds me of the great Townes Van Zandt… not in its tone, but in the way that it fits his material. Kyle has developed a style around his voice. That is not easy to do. His writing is reminiscent of John Moreland’s, but with the heart of Dylan. It is emotional, and confrontational. It speaks to today. It is current. It is important. He is like a modern Guthrie, and it would behoove you to acquaint yourself with his art.”

⁃ Abe Partridge, artist/songwriter

MICHAEL MCARTHUR:

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As a kid, Michael McArthur dreamed of becoming the world’s best guitar player; but every time he’d sit down to practice, he found himself writing a song instead. Two decades later, not much has changed. Despite packing theaters and garnering critical acclaim for his intimate live shows, McArthur still considers himself a hardworking songwriter first.

Music has been a lifelong companion for McArthur through trauma and triumph. He writes what he knows, with each song carrying an undercurrent of darkness in a river of personal experience. “Maybe I was born with it,” he says of his bittersweet streak. “And maybe one day I’ll master it. Until then, I’ll write.”

An unapologetically lyric-forward writer, McArthur’s words naturally wrap themselves around his listeners’ lives when put to melody. “Those are the kind of songs my heroes write,” he says, “and the kind of songs I seek to write.” He’s talking about heroes like John Prine, Bill Withers, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and others; you can feel their influence like an invisible armature under McArthur’s signature sound and lyrics. “I want to do for myself and others what my heroes have done for me,” he says. “ If I’m feeling it or going through it, chances are, it’s universal. Music is about sharing those stories and emotions with other people. I don’t write for television commercials. I write to plug in a light for people who have a desire to listen.”

McArthur writes every day, collecting lines, melodies and ideas from his own life, coaxing them into song form, and polishing them into finished pieces. “Some days, I just write a phrase or two,” he says, “but just like the road to healing and a deeper understanding, every song begins somewhere.”