MUSIC

McGonigel's Mucky Duck presents Joe Pug. 

“If my thoughts are hard to gather, if I don’t know where to start, it ain’t my mind that matters, for I have an unsophisticated heart.” — Joe Pug, “Unsophisticated Heart.”  For the moment, Joe Pug has it figured out, career if not life: Just write the songs that have to be written, play them for anybody who will listen, tour as if you had no home. Oh, and give your music away. Which isn’t to say he won’t be selling his debut full-length offering, Messenger ( Released 2/16/2010 on Lightning Rod). But free is how he came to make it, more or less.

“While most singer/songwriters are content to warble out a few semi-clever turns of phrase, Pug’s scorching poetry and soulful, ‘every phrase could be my last’ voice will stop you cold. If you want to read the actual endorsement, touch the braille stretching up my arms. Twenty years from now, lazy journalists will compare every halfway decent songwriter to Joe Pug. Mark my words.”–Jason Killingsworth, Paste Magazine

“One of the most surprising facts about singer-songwriter Joe Pug is that he’s only 23 years old. Not only does Chicago-based singer have a beautifully mature voice, but the lyrics on Pug’s debut EP, Nation of Heat, possess wisdom seemingly beyond his age.”–NPR