John Craigie’s humorous stories are as much a part of his shows as the songs themselves. He’s earned comparisons to comedians like the late Mitch Hedberg as much as to other folksingers like John Prine and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot. in his recent appearance at Capital Turnaround — his first appearance in “DC proper,” as he put it, in some time — he treated the audience to his signature songs and stories.
At Capital Turnaround on Oct. 18, Craigie opened with “Damn My Love,” followed by “Virgin Guitar.” Then he told the audience that October is “my favorite month to be touring,” because “my music works best in a dark room with sad people, and they don’t let you do that in summer.” (I can confirm that this was the vibe of a crowd; a group of folks in front of me were talking about Townes Van Zandt and other singer-songwriters before the show. I learned that Donovan, the English folksinger who’s been around since the ’60s, is the nicest guy.) “Folk festivals are better than the other festivals,” John said, “because it’s still sunny but they’re sad.”
Before playing “Part Wolf,” he regaled the audience with the story of how he met one of the Lumineers. “The cool thing to do, when a musician meets another musician,” he said, “is not talk about music.” John was minimally familiar with the nonprofit work this artist and his wife do, which apparently involves kelp, so he brought that up. He had to curtail the conversation, though, because he was only minimally familiar: “I didn’t know if there was too much kelp or not enough.”
“Microdose,” about his experiences with drugs, made me think of Todd Snider, another troubadour known for his stories. John then recounted his trip to January this past Norway. He’d always wanted to go, he said, though not in the dead of winter. In one town, he was playing a small room, and the promoter warned him that Norwegians are shy, so they don’t come to the front, instead crowding the balcony, creating a fire hazard. She pushed him to ask the the audience to come to the front, and he was like, “I’m not going to do that.” Nonetheless, he very gently did ask during his set, and the “four bravest Norwegians” made their way in front of the stage.
Watch John Craigie perform “Microdose” live for Jam in in the Van on YouTube:
This was followed by “Rough Johns,” then “Don’t Ask,” which he called his “most cynical song.” He dedicated that one to his ex-wife. “Mallory,” he said, was about his “early days,” when he was playing coffee shops and would ask the proprietor if he could sleep on their couch. He mentioned how it’s important to specify the couch at their home, not in the coffee shop, because while the people locking up are aware he’s a musician, it’s an entirely different story when someone arrives to open at 5:30 the next morning and one is asleep in their boxers, as happened one time in Dallas.
Craigie rounded out the set with “Judas” and “I Wrote Mr. Tambourine Man,” then finished with “Lorrie Rolled a J.” This last one, again, reminded me of Todd Snider, though John has a much more staid personality.
The evening’s festivities got off to a start with a set by Tre Burt, who opened with “The Late John Garfield Blues” by John Prine. Tre said he’d been playing it all week because it was Prine’s birthday. He has history with the legendary folksinger: in 2019, Prine signed him to his label, Oh Boy Records. He came to Tre’s show in Nashville and “heckled me the whole time.” (I was reminded of how Steve Earle met Townes Van Zandt, who kept shouting “Play ‘Wabash Cannonball'” during his set.) The last thing John said to Tre was, “This is gonna be a lot of fun.”
Moving on to his own material, Tre played the title track of his latest album, Traffic Fiction. He described the album as a bit different from his others, having been inspired by the soul music his dad, who had recently passed away, played for him growing up. He followed that with “Only Sorrow Remains” and “Piece of Me.” After that one, he described his writing process: when his label tells him they need an album, he sits down and writes the songs in a blur, usually in seclusion. After this tour, he’s headed to a place in Texas to do just that. Tre finished up with “Me Oh My” and “Sweet Misery.”
I’d not seen Tre before, and I was delighted to get the opportunity. John was, as always a lot of fun: He’s always armed with new stories, and every show is unique.