Nathan Kalish

Nathan Kalish // Songs for Nobody (April 10th)

Nathan Kalish has spent the past decade averaging 200 shows a year at bars and honky-tonks across the country. It’s from this experience he cultivated his new collection of story songs for his 10th album, the self-produced Songs for Nobody. His sound has been described as a “unique brew of Americana, rockabilly and outlaw country.” Through his cutting and intimate lyrics, he transports listeners from the passenger seat of his touring van to behind a magnifying glass aimed at the darker side of American culture. It’s not only his experiences that he shares, but the experiences of the people that he has met along the way.

The music he’s released has landed him on stages with Lucinda Williams, Molly Tuttle, and Lucero. He’s earned accolades from Rolling Stone Country, Saving Country Music and dozens of alt-weeklies. Kalish has lived the life of a curious wanderer, taking his music from town to town, creating a catalog of songs that act as colorful snapshots, like polaroids in a photo album. His music has been compared to American icons like Merle Haggard, John Prine, Gram Parsons, and the Sun Records’ rockabilly roster, circa 1956.

Because of his father’s work as an evangelical missionary, Kalish and his family never stayed in one place for very long. Kalish describes his youth growing up in Europe as constantly changing, while his parents moved the family often. They lived in meager conditions by western standards, but it instilled in him an inclination to get by on very little comfort. After living in Austria and Prague for several years, the Kalish’s returned to the U.S.  During middle school in Chicago, Kalish played in local punk and hardcore bands while learning to play guitar, bass, and drums. After he started Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire he hit the road for a few years, honing his craft while enduring a grueling and extensive schedule of shows across the U.S. and Europe.

“I have never fit in anywhere, moving around as a kid I sometimes went to 3 schools in one year,” Kalish admits. “As an adult, I kept it going with my touring lifestyle because it’s what I am used to. I like to think that I write as an outsider looking in. A traveler that is always watching the people and cultures I’m around. I write a lot about my loneliness but also about the folks I meet in the bars I play. I have a bit of self-loathing because I’m a constant world traveler, but I also feel like its overshadowed by my interest in the honest human experience. I like to balance and intertwine the two perspectives in my songs.”

Kalish left his band in 2010 and found himself at a personal crossroads. He spent some time drumming, playing bass and also guitar for the Stonesy Bloodshot Records band the Deadstring Brothers, and then ended up forming, The Lastcallers, and returned to intensive touring. After two records and many, many gigs together, Kalish needed a change and opted to go solo.

“Even though I’m older, I’m still a poor idealist by choice. I’ve just replaced traditional religion with punk rock, spirituality and the search for “truthiness.” I’ve always been more concerned with a good story than a good ending. I have no 401k, no health insurance, no degrees and no offspring at age 36. When I see musicians in the press called troubadours, I chuckle to myself. I’ve slept on floors, couches, and in vans for 12ish years doing 200+ shows a year with and without a band. I’ve recently been going to random bars on my days off to play and I usually make a few hundred bucks, just from knowing how to interact with the audience. I know exactly how to survive on the road and I learned it from being on the road.”

It was taking a break from touring close to 200 shows a year that enabled him to create his 2018 record I Want to Believe. Produced by David Beeman (Pokey LaFarge) at Native Sound in St. Louis, the album showcased Kalish’s unique and wide-eyed perspective, set alongside engaging honky-tonk ready instrumentation. Rolling Stone called it the “heartland rock and alt-country soundtrack to looking for UFOs in Roswell, New Mexico.”

Kalish’s new LP Songs for Nobody was recorded at Nashville’s Trace Horse Studio and provides an auditory evolution of that engaging, mysterious psych-folk sound. Finding inspiration from acts like Darrell Scott and Daniel Roman, Kalish brings a gritty moodiness to his expertly-blended traditional country elements. By recruiting incredible locally-based talent that includes acclaimed guitarist Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson, Drivin N Cryin) and pedal steel aficionado Adam Kurtz (Great Peacock, American Aquarium, Joshua Ray Walker), Kalish tapped into the magic of Nashville’s tightly-knit creative community to bring his vision to life. The result of this collaboration is an LP filled with heart-wrenchingly honest and reflective songs that leave a lasting mark on anyone who listens.

An examination of America’s culture of greed, “No Hope” acts as an anthem for the people who give their all without receiving their fair due in return. “Give me your tired, give me your poor,” Kalish proclaims. “Give me your huddled masses yearning for more, and we’ll put ‘em to work for crumbs on our factory floor, then show them the door.”

“Pam & Tim” continues that spotlight on the challenges small-town Americans face, delivering a gut-punch of honesty that few songwriters can deliver with such vigor and authenticity.

“Delta Woman” was born from a chance visit to a friend’s apartment in Stockholm, where he got to explore their vast collection of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash memorabilia. Among the items were handwritten unfinished lyrics from Cash, which Kalish found himself drawn to. He took the title and a verse and chorus of what Cash had started and wrote the music and completed the lyrics in his own style while paying homage to the Cash songs he has played every night in honky-tonks for the past decade, creating a connection that reaches beyond time and place.

The haunting yet comedic title track, “Songs for Nobody,” shows the mental and emotional strain life on the road can bring. From the tedium of long hauls across the country to the stale smell of gas stop cuisine, the moments that precede and follow nightly sets in strange cities provide their own unique set of challenges and stressors. Note by note, Kalish examines what the cost of those fleeting moments on stage can bring.

Even with its unexpected curves and bumps, Nathan Kalish’s committed relationship with the road is one that still has many more miles to go. With a busy 2020 planned, Songs for Nobody will mark an important chapter in Kalish’s creative journey, which is only just beginning.