BIG LITTLE THINGS
released APRIL 29, 2024
RELEASE 138
I was trying to figure out how to make performing solo work for me in Philly. For a while, I settled on making backing tracks with bass and drums. For this show, I set up 20 tracks, and hit shuffle on the playlist containing all of them. Amazingly, the setlist I got ended up working really well. I tried this again two months later and it did not work as well. I threw a few covers into the set, and doing that made me realize that I enjoyed playing fast and aggressive songs a LOT. It affected my songwriting approach for 50 Songs a lot. There weren't a lot of people at this show, but the 8 or so people who watched me play got really into it, so that was nice. If nothing else, this recording is pretty clear, so you can actually hear my singing amidst the racket. Perhaps this live album's most interesting aspect is the state that the new songs are in. I hadn't gone to the Boom Room to record these yet, so some of the songs have different lyrics or different arrangements. "Speculative Friction" doesn't even go past the first chorus.