Hello everyone, Kirk here with a very special announcement before we start the episode.

This summer, I am going to be taking to the stage for the first ever Strong Songs live show.

It will be on Saturday, July 11th at the Alberta Rose Theater in my hometown of Portland, Oregon,

and I really hope that you can make it. I'll be on stage with a large group of killer local

musicians, many of whom will be familiar to longtime listeners of this show, along with some special

guests and all sorts of surprises, will be playing a mix of original music that I'm writing just for the show

and covers of some of the strongest songs that I've talked about on the podcast.

It's going to be so cool.

It'll be a musical journey that we will all share together.

I'm incredibly excited to finally do this,

to take what I've been making with strong

songs and turn it into something that we can all share in together in the same room.

It's the first step toward making strong songs, live shows a regular thing, and it's

going to be a really special night.

So get your tickets now, July 11th, 20 26 at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland.

There is a link down in the show notes.

I really hope you can make it.

Okay, on with the episode.

In music, the terms gain and distortion are often used interchangeably,

but they actually don't quite mean the same thing.

Gain just means boosting a signal's amplification, and adding a lot of gain can cause distortion.

Welcome to Strong Songs, a podcast about music. I'm your host, Kirk Hamilton, and I'm so glad

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