My personal history with Joe Pug is not terribly long or storied. I first saw him open for Josh Ritter in a club in Des Moines, Iowa and thought he sounded great. His voice was strong and his words articulate and true. I’ve enjoyed his records and gone to see him a few times since then (including another opening slot with Ritter), most recently over 4th of July weekend up in Toronto last year. He seemed much more focused in the last performance, not wasting much time between songs and just kind of driven to get as many tunes into his short set as possible. Some of those songs are on his new album, Windfall, which comes out March 10th.

“Stay And Dance” is a soft ballad, not unlike a lot of Pug’s previous work. The difference here may be in the effortlessness with which he conveys his simple message: “They don’t know beauty, just the costume. They don’t know music, just the volume.”

Pug is currently on a national tour, taking him to every corner of the United States. He’ll be here in Chicago on January 17th at the House Of Blues with The Devil Makes Three.