About Me
Buy the Nation of Heat EP at iTunes by clicking here!
Or buy the physical CD below!
Joe hails from the southern streets of Maryland. He spent a few collegiate years in North Carolina but dropped out for a number of reasons (including boredom and ineptitude).Currently he resides in Chicago, where he works as a carpenter by day and a songwright by night. He's grateful to everyone listening to the songs he wrote. He apologizes to everyone living in the houses he built.
Press inquiries please contact sharyn (at) nodooragency.com
For Business, Booking please contact don (at) nodooragency.comSome early reviews:
"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
"Seemingly inspired by Dylan's debut, Pug's slurred singing, folkie ramble and way with a phrase make him a dead ringer for the boyish Bob. "Call It What You Will" and "Speak Plainly Diana" offer a weary outlook, but a tart "I Do My Father's Drugs" scores on sarcasm alone. "--Performing Songwriter
"Umpteen repeat listens later and you'll still be marveling at Joe's amazing stream of consciousness lyrics, simple acoustic accompaniment, and timeless voice. 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
"...Joe eschews verse/chorus/verse and instead lets loose a barrage of stream of consciousness that somehow is devoid of pretension and cliche."--Songs:Illinois
"Much in the way of Josh Ritter’s recent breakthrough, Joe Pug is able to sound like a wise old sage with a million stories and a memory that captures each detail and refuses to let them dim."--Twangville
"Windy City folkie channels an upbringing chock full of singer/songwriters from decades past into a solid style all his own."--Spin Magazine Online
"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, and we as Chicagoans will be privileged enough to watch the kid develop from precocious youngster to out and out star."--Chicagoist
"...staggering in its courage and rich in its symbolism"--Twang Nation
"One of the most unfathomably masterful debuts I've heard in recent memory."--Captain Obvious
"Some pretty decent singer/songwriters have called Chicago home over the years. There's that Tweedy guy and Andrew Bird. Sam Cooke and Bo Diddley too. Well, get ready to add another name to that list: Joe Pug. This kid (still in his early 20's) is going to make a serious mark on this city's music scene, guaranteed."--UR Chicago Magazine
"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. Here I am, almost a week later, and the album has still not left my player. It will be one of the best EP’s of 2008."--Hear Ya
"You know how sometimes a song resonates with you? If Joe Pug’s songs don’t, I think you might be a zombie."--The Late Greats
"Mr. Pug quite simply writes excellent songs. It fits. It works. There’s something complete and satisfying about the music, the delivery, the lyrics, the lot. Mr. Pug’s lyrics are well-crafted, engaging and thoughtful."--Song By Toad UK
"Earnest, touching, and world-weary far beyond his mere 22 years, Joe Pug often recalls early Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.... Pug exhibits a thoughtfulness and social consciousness that's rare in singer-songwriters more than twice his age, and a talent that's even rarer." – Dean Ramos, Illinois Entertainer
"Joe Pug is a local Chicago kid who's been writing songs for all of 6 months, which is why you haven't heard of him. But that's why you're here, I hope, so I'm not going to insult your intelligence by telling you who Pug will remind you of. Just listen to "Hymn 101" and think about what kind of lyrics you would've written at 22, and then go back to reading blogs and feeling untalented like I did."--No Dessert For You
The songs I’ve heard place him squarely in a much richer tradition- where comparisons to Dylan seem natural but are maybe a bit naïve- populated by songwriters like John Prine, Jesse Winchester, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark or even Paul Westerberg. The disc is comprised of seven exquisitely crafted songs, including... two absolutely visionary hymns."-- Old Gold and Black
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