John Darnielle, the singer-songwriter at the core of The Mountain Goats, may be the most prolific songwriter in the world. Since he started recording in lo-fi on a tape machine by himself more than 30 years ago, he’s released about 600 original songs.

I’m not ashamed to say that, while I’ve listened to his catalog several times, I still struggle to identify his songs. I have a freakishly good memory, but there’s too many even for me to remember them all. The upside of the size of his catalog is that, while there some songs repeated on the second of his two recent nights at The Birchmere, the two sets were quite different from each other, and from what he played at Wolf Trap in August.

At The Birchmere on Oct. 8, Darnielle nodded to his prolific output, saying, “You think my brain works,” but he struggles with some of his songs. “You never hear ‘Riches and Wonders,'” he said, “because I invert the verses. They don’t follow narratively. They all stand alone.”

Late in the set, he told the audience, “There’s only one story when it comes to the heels and the babyfaces,” the villains and heroes, respectively, in professional wrestling. (The term heel comes from the Biblical story of Jacob grabbing his twin’s heel in the womb.) “The point of the heels,” he said, “is to draw heat.” John quipped, “If you would prefer to drive engagement rather draw heat, you are sick in spirit.” He noted, “There is a politician who has made this his whole shtick;” in fact, Donald Trump has a long association with WWE going back to the ’80s, and has appeared on its programming multiple times. When a good guy goes bad, making what is called a heel turn, John said, “it feels like a release of tension. This is called ‘Heel Turn 1.'”

Introducing “Idylls of the King,” Darnielle shared, “I had to have to Matt help relearn the chords.” When he was making that album, Tallahassee, he thought, “This on a bigger label, you should learn some new chords.” Of “Keeping House,” he joked, “Everyone knows this one because they’re required to by law.” He described “Water Tower” as “an utempto major key number about a drowning.” Before “Yoga,” he said, “When you see me put down the pick and not pick up a new one, you know it’s an older song.”

After “Yoga,” the rest of the band left the stage and John Did a couple songs by himself. “I thought I’d play a spiritual,” he said before “Jaipur.” For “Store,” he had to borrow an audience member’s phone to recall the lyrics; he did so again, later in the set, two verses into “Luna.” After “Store,” the rest of the band came back, and they did “Transcendental Youth,” followed by “Heretic Pride.”

Watch The Mountain Goats perform “Heretic Pride” live for Jordan Lake Sessions on YouTube:

The set also included “Baboon,” “Dance Music,” and the title cut from Getting Into Knives. “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod,” John said, “is a song about living in  a house where physical abuse is going on.” They closed the main set with fan favorite “This Year.”

For their encore, The Mountain Goats played “Internal Small Arms Traffic Blues” and “Palmcorder Yajna.” Introducing the last number, “No Children,” John said, “this is a song that Celine Dion refuses to cover year in and year out. This hurting world needs the Celine Dion version of this song.”

Tift Merritt’s opening set added to this being a very special evening. She’s an incredibly gifted singer-songwriter from North Carolina, and the audience loved her. It was easy to see why she’s received critical acclaim and Grammy nominations: She’s a superb songwriter and a wonderful singer. On top of that, she has an absolutely charming stage presence, radiating warmth and good humor. In bringing her on this tour — her first in six years, as she mentioned — The Mountain Goats gave a platform to a highly deserving artist to expand her fan base.

“How many of you were here last night?” Tift said when she took the stage,  and a considerable portion of the audience indicated they had been. “Good thing I changed my set,” she said, and then played her first number, “Light Hearted/Stitch of the World.” She followed that with “All The Reasons We Don’t Have To Fight,” after which she said “I’ve been writing new songs.” This is welcome news, as her last album came out in 2017. Moving to the piano, she played one of those new songs, “Last Ditch Ultimatum.” Her set continued with “Good Hearted Man,” after which she said, “I can’t resist the urge to say I divorced that guy.”

Watch the official music video for “Good Hearted Man” by Tift Merritt on YouTube:

There was a bit of a hitch, as her guitar wasn’t playing through the amplification. Unphased, she unplugged and came out to the edge of the stage to play “Traveling Alone.” Before her next song, she said “I’m really scared to this. I’ve never played it in public.” I didn’t get the name of the song, but it was a steamy, passionate tune that made me think of Lucinda Williams, although Tift played this one on the piano. To close her set, she did what she called “one more experimental tune,” just vocals, with looping.

When Tift finished, many in the audience rose to give her a standing ovation. She mentioned how she had contemplated giving up music, and I think everyone at The Birchmere was glad she decided to give it another shot. Her songs evoked comparisons by the folks at my table to Natalie Merchant, Joan Baez, Carole King, and Dolly Parton. She really is that good.

The Mountain Goats, whatever format they may be playing in — I’ve seen them as a duo, a full band, and now a trio — always deliver. Darnielle’s songs bring together an eclectic audience: This has to have been the first time I’ve seen a Slayer t-shirt and a Dead & Company t-shirt at the same show. And that eclectic audience also vigorously embraced Tift Merritt, who definitely won over some new fans. I am thrilled she is back, and I can’t wait to catch her again when she comes through town to do a full set of her own.

Every Mountain Goats show I’ve seen has been an uplifting experience, and this one was no exception. There was a palpable atmosphere of warmth and joy, of humanity, empathy, and compassion throughout the night. Both John Darnielle and Tift Merritt are doing their part to, as she put it, “put a little more love out into the world.”

Here are some photos of The Mountain Goats performing at The Birchmere on Oct. 8, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.

Here are some photos of Tift Merrit opening The Mountain Goats at The Birchmere on Oct. 8, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.