Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) with Katy Kirby
Craig Finn is a Minnesota-bred singer/songwriter based in New York City, best known as the singer of The Hold Steady. Finn spent the ’90s leading the Minneapolis indie band Lifter Puller, which released three albums and an EP. After relocating to New York, he joined with Lifter Puller member Tad Kubler to form The Hold Steady in 2003. The Hold Steady quickly achieved critical acclaim and a worldwide fanbase with their unique pairing of dense lyrical narratives with big rock guitars. The Hold Steady’s ninth album, The Price Of Progress, was released in March 2023, commemorating the band’s 20th anniversary.
Finn released his first solo album in 2012, followed by three additional solo LPs from 2015 to 2019: Faith in the Future, We All Want The Same Things, and 2019’s I Need a New War—which coalesced into a sign-of-the-times musical trilogy. In 2019, Finn also released his debut book, I Can’t Keep Saying Thank You, a collection of his song lyrics. A double album of B-sides and outtakes, All These Perfect Crosses, was released in 2021, accompanied by a limited-edition graphic novel/comic book.
Finn’s fifth solo album, A Legacy of Rentals, was released in May 2022 to great fanfare. Pitchfork praised it, saying, “The writing remains the main attraction in Finn’s work, and both as a storyteller and a rock songwriter, he has never sounded more in control. From the beginning, he had a gift for meticulous, vivid world-building, and his wordplay has gotten tighter as his subjects have come down to earth.”
That’s How I Remember It is Craig Finn’s podcast series, which just started its third season. Co-produced and distributed by Talkhouse, the podcast series examines the connection between memory and creativity. Each episode features a discussion between Finn and one creator—including musicians, authors, filmmakers, and more—about the role memory plays in their art. These exclusive conversations reveal the different ways each creator synthesizes their remembered life experience to tell stories about themselves and the world we live in.
Katy Kirby's second album, Blue Raspberry, dives into the artifice of intimacy, exploring the glittering and synthetic elements that accompany relationships. Originally from Spicewood, Texas, and now based in New York, Kirby began writing the album’s title track in Nashville, a month before realizing her queerness. This track initiated her journey of examining her first queer relationship, celebrating both the beauty and the artificiality of love.
Following her acclaimed debut Cool Dry Place, Blue Raspberry presents a polished and confident sophomore effort. Kirby's new work continues to question how people connect despite obstacles, with themes of yearning, artifice, and the spectacles people create for one another in love.
Kirby composed many of the songs during a 2021 tour with Waxahatchee, embracing her impulse to create ornate, embellished music. The album's lyrics are woven with recurring images like cubic zirconia, salt crystals, and teeth, providing a cohesive narrative.Working with producers Alberto Sewald and Logan Chung, and featuring orchestral arrangements by Rowen Merrill, Blue Raspberry aims for a lush sonic palette. Tracks like “Salt Crystal” and “Drop Dead” highlight Kirby's ability to blend beauty with playful humor, and her lyrics transform the mundane into the magical. Throughout the album, Kirby questions the sufficiency of striving for love, suggesting that the pursuit itself may be the treasure. Blue Raspberry resonates with this idea, celebrating love's complexities and the artifice we embrace in our search for connection.
