With the clarity of vision of a millenial, the old soul of a troubadour, and the timing of a stand-up comedian, John Craigie’s live shows have his rapidly growing audiences hanging on every word. The humor that runs throughout his songs and the narratives that accompany them touch on embarrassing iPhone photos, Election Night 2016, and “pants” vs “trousers,” all presented with self deprecating wit.
Documenting a pair of sold out performances at Mississippi Studios and The Doug Fir late last year, the Portland, OR-based Craigie will take the unique step of issuing a second live album in his relatively young career with the release of Opening For Steinbeck, which is out March 16th. With wry observational humor interwoven in both story and song, the album is an ideal introduction to an artist doing something that’s simultaneously old and brand new. Craigie truly has a unique live performance; between nearly each song of the set, there’s a “bit”he’s written that thematically leads into the next track.
Today Glide is excited to premiered the live rendition of Craigie’s tune “Presidential Silver Lining”. Framed around the tragic circumstances of election night 2016, Craigie kicks things off with his own story of hosting a party that night and the depression that followed…with his comedic touch of course. The introduction to the song captures the performer’s natural, good-natured rapport with his audience. Craigie blows his harmonica and strums his guitar as he announces “most things are fucked”. But this isn’t a doom and gloom track, in fact, it is the opposite. With his lilting vocals, Craigie points to the positive things that come terrible times, offering up historical and humorous – not to mention intelligent – commentary. While at his core Craigie is a folk musician, but “Presidential Silver Lining” captures his dynamic talent and what makes him such a compelling and entertaining live act.
Sharing the story behind the song, Craigie has this to say:
“This song was written two days after the 2016 Presidential election. My tour started that day and I was trying to find some humor, or silver lining, to remind my audience not to give up hope. If you listen to the song, you’ll hear that I never even mention the president’s name nor the current state of things, but rather, how as artists, many of us are more inspired when times are tough. Or as I say in the song, ‘Artists are better when they’re bummed.’ It continues to get the biggest response of the show.”
LISTEN:
For more music and info visit johncraigiemusic.com.
Tour Dates:
Feb 10 – Honolulu, HI – The Republik
Feb 16 – Grass Valley, CA – Center for the Arts *
Feb 17 – Sebastopol, CA – Hopmonk Tavern *
Feb 18 – Sebastopol, CA – Hopmonk Tavern *
Feb 19 – Chico, CA – Sierra Nevada Big Room *
Feb 23 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s *
Feb 24 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Crown Room *
Feb 26 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown^
Feb 27 – Davenport, IA – Redstone Room^ F
eb 28 – St Louis, MO – Old Rock House^
Mar 01 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck^
Mar 02 – Boulder, CO – The Fox Theatre^
Mar 03 – Steamboat Springs, CO – Rock the Boat Concert Series^
Mar 04 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up^
Mar 05 – Park City, UT – Park City Live^
Mar 06 – Ketchum, ID – Whiskey Jacques^
Mar 07 – Bend, OR – The Domino Room^
Mar 08 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo^
Mar 09 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile^
Mar 10 – Portland, OR – The Aladdin Theater^
Mar 11 – Arcata, CA – Humboldt Brews^
Mar 14 – Austin, TX – SXSW (March 14-15)
Mar 16 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore *
Mar 18 – Santa Cruz, CA – Kuumbwa Jazz
Mar 21 – Spokane, WA – The Bartlett
Mar 22 – Sandpoint, ID – Di Luna’s (Two Shows March 22-23)
Apr 04 – Raleigh, NC – The Pour House
Apr 05 – Charlotte, NC – The Evening Muse
Apr 06 – Atlanta, GA – Smith’s Olde Bar
Apr 07 – Marianna, FL – Madison’s Warehouse
Apr 08 – Tallahassee, FL – Purple House Concerts
Jun 15 – Hunter, NY – Mountain Jam (June 15-17)
Jul 05 – Quincy, CA – High Sierra Music Festival (July 5-8)
Aug 03 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon (Aug 3-5)
* = opening for ALO
^ = opening for Donavon Frankenreiter
Photo credit: Keith Berson
