Stuffy Shmitt has released new single “Jim’s Dad” from his forthcoming LP, Stuff Happens, out Dec. 4.
Stuffy is a veteran NYC rock & roller who’s performed and recorded with everyone from Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano and David Johansen of the New York Dolls to The Band’s Levon Helm. From 2000 to 2012, he put out a half-dozen mostly under-the-radar solo records. Then about eight years ago he went off the rails, consumed by bipolar disorder. Finally, he got himself properly medicated, moved to Nashville and was able to sort out everything he’d created during his bouts of depression & mania. The resulting album, Stuff Happens, is his finest yet.
“Jim’s Dad” is a hypnotic tune anchored by Shmitt’s deep baritone. The song considers what happens when a flawed family member dies unexpectedly. “Jim’s Dad was a scout leader / Was a wife-beater,” Shmitt sings unceremoniously. There’s no sanitizing or smoothing over here—just the plain truth narrated from a refreshingly detached remove.
Stream the song here…