Jeremy Ivey (Photo by Cal & Aly 8)

Playing solo acoustic, Jeremy Ivey began his show at Songbyrd Music House recently with the title cut (and last song) of his debut album, The Dream and the Dreamer, a bittersweet song of love not come to pass.

The last time he came to DC, Jeremy accompanied his wife, Margo Price, on guitar, in her appearance at the 9:30 Club in December. Margo, then pregnant with the couple’s second child, invited Jeremy to sing “Greyhound.” Jeremy often writes songs for Margo, like his second number, “Loner,” which she cut for her second album, All American Made.

While Jeremy and Margo often collaborate, he also writes songs that aren’t in her wheelhouse. He held onto those songs, like “Worry Doll,” a complex, metaphor-filled song about two people meeting at last call.

Jeremy has described the time he spent putting together the Dream and the Dreamer as full of stress and anxiety-inducing news. In his third tune of the evening, Jeremy sang about kids being killed in school. He made one political comment during set, telling the audience, “The divide between left and right is not as important as the divide between rich and poor.”

Stream The Dream and the Dreamer by Jeremy Ivey on Spotify:

Sensing the heaviness in the room, Jeremy turned to something “more upbeat,” saying, “this next song is called ‘Things Could Get Much Worse,’ but it’s upbeat. It’s upbeat!” Jeremey was true to his word, and the song proved surprisingly positive. That could be me, though, as I am apt to comfort myself by imagining, in graphic detail, just how much worse things could be. (To quote Young Frankenstein: “It could be raining.”)

Continuing to feature songs from The Dream and the Dreamer, Jeremy next played “Falling Man,” about man’s place in the march of history. He asked the asked the audience, “You want to hear a love long?” Receiving a positive response, he played “Laundry List,” which is exactly that: a list of the things he loves about his wife.

Jeremy is constantly writing and trying out new material. On the spur of the moment, he decided to debut a new song. After that, he played another love song. Jeremy closed his set with the first track on his album, “Diamonds Back to Coal.”

After his set, Jeremy hung around to watch Ian Noe, for whom he opened. Jeremy was quite approachable and friendly. Make sure to check out his new album, which is out now from Anti- Records.