Hello and welcome to the working songwriter the show where today's best songwriters come to talk shop.

I'm your host Joe Pug.

Each episode here, we host a distinguished guest and we ask them to go deep on their inspiration, on their process, on the general ups and downs of making a life in music.

So, whether you're a grizzled veteran

posting Facebook comments declaring what is or is not music? Or else a scrappy upstart, wondering just why

after an entire year of guitar lessons you still haven't been offered an appearance

on Conan.

Either way, this is your show.

Because ultimately, it is what every writer seeks most,

an ironclad excuse to put off actually writing.

Hey everybody, thanks for joining us this month, our first show of 2017.

The live shows that I got to play last week in the Pacific Northwest were wonderful.

Thank you to all who came out to the Doug Fur in Portland and to Vancouver and to the Tractor Tavern in Seattle.

I'm just starting to meet people after shows

who have gotten to know my music through the podcast.

So that's a first, that's a new and exciting thing. I'm

glad to meet all you guys after the show. Thanks for being there. I always like to let you

guys know where I'll be playing in the coming months in case I'm coming to your town and you'd like to hear some of my songs live or maybe I'm coming to a town where you have friends or family and you'd like to harass them into coming to one of the shows that works too.

On Saturday, February 4th, I'll be at the Lincoln Theater in Raleigh, supporting American Aquarium for their annual road trip to Raleigh weekend.

They just added Will Hoag and his band to that bill for the fourth so needless to say that will be a great night of music

then on February 16th I'll be at the boot and saddle Philadelphia, wonderful little club that they have there.

On February 17th at City Winery in New York City, the 18th I'll be at the tin roof in Baltimore,

...