Joe Pug with Caroline Smith

The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, Joe Pug sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest. Pug packed up his belongings and drove the longest route possible to Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn’t picked up since his teenage years. Using ideas originally slated for a play he was writing called “Austin Fish,” Pug began creating the sublime lyrical masterpiece that would become the Nation of Heat EP.

The songs were recorded fast and fervently at a Chicago studio where a friend snuck him in to late night slots other musicians had canceled. He was short on money, but his bare-boned sincerity didn’t require much more than a microphone and it dripped off of each note he sang.

In May of 2008, Pug played the first headlining slot of his young career to a sold out crowd at Chicago’s storied Schubas Tavern. Two weeks later he released the Nation of Heat EP, which has garnered near-universal critical acclaim and established him as one of the most respected songwriters of his generation. Pug has since played shows with Steve Earle, M. Ward, Susan Tedeschi, and Robert Randolph and played Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and the Newport and Winnipeg Folk Festivals in Summer 2009. He'll be releasing his debut full length record later in 2009.

"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, Deputy Editor, Paste Magazine

Opening tonight will be singer-songwriter Caroline Smith, performing as a duo.

Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), Cedar outlets, and online at Ticketweb.

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Nation of Heat

Joe Pug | MySpace Video

Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith is a singer-songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota who started recording and performing at age 15. She is perhaps better known as the front-woman for the up-and-coming indie folk group Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps.

Joe Pug

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...