I think I’m especially fascinated with this sad-eyed troubadour because he’s from where I’m from (South Africa) and he’s settled and worked creatively somewhere I want to, at some point (Colorado).
Also, he manufactures my particular drug of choice – tragic, hopeful folk songs about love.
The reason folk love songs are so attractive, I think, is because they suggests a community around something that’s an intimate, private sadness. They sound like they’ve been played before, and lived in, and forged by people who have already internalised what you’re feeling now, even if you’re hearing it for the first time. Which is always a quiet comfort, and that’s where braveness comes from.
Here’s the magnificent If I Go, I’m Goin’, as featured on Californication.
Visit his official site, where you can stream all his stuff.
theantilaugh 