Craig Finn can spin the yarn with the very best of them.
The 53-year-old songwriter and storyteller has showcased his abilities as the leader of The Hold Steady but also with his own studio albums — he’s released five of them along with a compilation.
Finn’s got another record in the works, and this fall he was on the road in Europe and the USA in support of his own material, some of it released, some of it on the way. It was a run dubbed “This is What it Looks Like: Solo Songs & Stories,” and it gave him the chance to engage with listeners in small, cozy venues all over the map.
The result here in the States was a series of shows that the artist himself heralded on his social media as a “major success.”
On Nov. 22, Finn delighted a packed house at The Miracle Theater in DC, drawing tunes from his catalogue and prefacing each with its backstory across an intimate and deeply entertaining set that showcased the thought and detail he puts into each of his songs.
Listen to Craig Finn’s 2022 studio album, A Legacy of Rentals, via Spotify:
In a sport coat and a Natural Light hat, Finn was just as comfy as a guy at a bar surrounded by longtime friends as he rotated two acoustic guitars. One of them, he said, was a gift from an old pal. Though it was a modest six-string instrument, he told the room that the songs poured out of it when he first began to play it.
Finn was clearly elated to shine light on his approach and the inspiration for his tunes and his tale telling, stating his obsession with places and people, with special attention paid to nicknames and a particular focus on folks struggling to make the right decisions.
Those on hand at The Miracle Theater were treated to a couple of the tracks he’ll officially introduce next spring, but they were moved to learn the genesis of some of the most compelling tunes he’s already recorded in the studio.
Finn explained the punk-dream origins of “It’s Never Been A Fair Fight,” released as a single in 2019 and then on the 2021 collection All These Perfect Crosses, as well as “Newmyer’s Roof” from 2015’s Faith in the Future, a reflection he wrote about watching the World Trade Center collapse on 9/11.
Listen to Craig Finn’s Podcast, That’s How I Remember It, via Spotify:
Fittingly, he capped the night in DC with the namesake of the tour — the closer from his 2022 album, A Legacy of Rentals. But before doing so, he left the audience with these powerful words that he echoed at stops along the tour:
“As far as bringing people together,” he said. “Music is undefeated.”
Below is a mix of home-rolled/processed/scanned black and white photos and digital color shots of Craig Finn along with the night’s opening act, Katy Kirby, performing at The Miracle Theater in Washington DC on Nov. 22, 2024. All photographs copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
Craig Finn
Katy Kirby
