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. Since self-releasing the Nation Of Heat EP that same month Joe has gone on to win critical praise from Paste Magazine, NPR, KCRW, and many others. His near non-stop tours have included runs with M. Ward, Steve Earle, Josh Ritter, and The Flatlanders and culminated with a sold out two-night stand at Schubas Tavern in Chicago. The summer of 2009 includes stops at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and the Newport Folk Festival. He plans to release his full-length debut in the fall of 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
"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
"Even if the words singer-songwriter make you groan and cringe, I dare you to come to the Hideout to see Joe Pug and not develop goosebumps...His star is rising so catch him while you can." --Time Out Chicago
"Fans of quality songwriting need to hunt down a copy of Nation of Heat." --My Old Kentucky Blog
"In Pug's hard plucking, exaggerated choruses, and lyrical vignettes you can draw a pretty straight line from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen to Steve Earle to Josh Ritter. Like all of them, Pug is a populist at heart, a singer who can't help but talk about all of us when he sings about himself and can't help but sing about himself when he's talking about all of us......"Hymn 101" is full of lines that will fill you with both heartbreak and euphoria. It's good to be reminded that that's why we listen to music in the first place. --3Hive
"Every word here is just amazingly beautiful...packed with symbolism and pure poetry.....Let Joe Pug give you back faith in folk music and truly marvelous singer-songwriters." --Delusions of Adequacy
"Pug is the real deal. The kid’s got that weariness in his delivery that you can’t smoke or drink your way to because it comes from somewhere deeper than the vocal chords. It’s the same gritty, spirited voice that made Hank I, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Dylan iconic....We as Chicagoans will be privileged enough to watch the kid develop from precocious youngster to out and out star." --Chicagoist
"One of the most unfathomably masterful debuts I've heard in recent memory." --Captain Obvious
"I found it hard to make it past the first track, “Hymn 101,” just because it is so damn good. After taking that song off repeat and listening to the rest of Nation of Heat, I knew I’d be addicted....the album has still not left my player. It will be one of the best EP’s of 2008." --Hear Ya
"Staggering in its courage and rich in its symbolism" --Twang Nation
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