There was something that caught my ear on the 19th of September this past year. Stationed in front of the Radical Stage at Riot Fest, I was awaiting the Rilo Kiley’s return. It had been a busy day, so I arrived to the stage early to get a good spot and take a breath. I knew the band before Rilo Kiley was playing an album in full which is always a treat, so I was excited to see what I would think. When the band walked on stage, they weren’t in coordinated outfits adorned with the eyeliner like many Riot Fest contemporaries were. The voice scratched an itch that had been scratched before. I was immediately drawn in by the front mans story telling, it was like a whirlpool that started spinning me around until I drowned in the world of “Separation Sunday”. This was The Hold Steady, a band that I am a little irritated I hadn’t known about sooner. On the train ride home that night I put on “Separation Sunday”. I found out the familiarity came from band leader Craig Finn’s previous project Lifter Puller, that was on a friends playlist. As the songs kept playing and my Wikipedia search went from blue link to blue link, I fell in love with this band I had not known 12 hours prior. The beauty of festivals right? I had the privilege to talk with Craig Finn about his new solo record “Always Been” which continues his enthralling tales throughout the 11 tracks on the album. Hitting on the challenges of writing in a changing world, the beauty of Newport Folk Fest, and being fans in the bottom of the AL Central barrel, there was little we didn’t discuss in my lovely conversation with Craig Finn.
Logan: Yeah, so it’s nice to be home. I love Iowa, but there’s a little more to do and see here in Chicago.
Craig: Of course, of course, of course.
Logan: Yeah. Are you in New York right now?
Craig: Yeah, I’m in Brooklyn. I’m here. I toured a lot this year, but I’m here for through the holidays and into January. So it feels pretty nice to be home for a bit.
Logan: That is really nice. Minnesota is kind of where you’re from, right?
Craig: Yeah from, I don’t have any family there anymore though. So I really only go for the shows now but my family is dispersed. But that’s definitely where I grew up.
Logan: Does that mean you’re a Twins fan, a Yankees fan, a Mets fan?
Craig: Always Twins, always Minnesota sports, except hockey, because I grew up a Minnesota North Stars fan, and they’re no longer. So I became a New York Rangers fan in hockey. But Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, and lately big Timberwolves.
Logan: You guys had a great game with the Vikings.
Craig: Vikings had a great game last night. Yeah, I like this. I really, you know, I think we have to stick with this quarterback and see what happens. He’s yeah, it’s there’s growing pains, but I think it’s worth it.
Logan: It’s his first, I’m in the suburbs and he’s from the suburb right next to me, La Grange, Illinois.
Craig: Oh, I didn’t know that. I guess I didn’t know where he was from. I know he played at Michigan, but that’s crazy. Yeah, he’s, he looks pretty good. I mean, you know, if you look historically, the great quarterbacks have a rough burst here. So I think you got to give it to him.
Logan: You know, it’s no shade to your Vikings, you’re not a fully fleshed out team yet either. It’s not like you’re one missing piece away. Like everyone’s got the growing pains.
Craig: Yeah, absolutely. That’s why I don’t think trading for a veteran, you know, seems like, it’s not like we’re a missing piece. We have a terrible offensive line. So whoever we get is going to get… is going to be running for their lives.
Logan: Are you a big baseball guy?
Craig: Yeah, Twins. I mean, huge. Baseball is probably my favorite.
Logan: That was a rough year for us. I didn’t expect, I expected you guys to be good this year. I’m a White Sox fan, so you know, I hate to admit that you guys were looking good, but.
Craig: I didn’t think we were going to be good. I thought we were going to lose 90 games, and we did. We have ownership problems so until those get resolved, we’ll be pretty, I think we’ll be pretty mediocre to lousy. I don’t know, I don’t think they’ll do anything. They’re holding on to their good players, but I don’t know what that means. I don’t think there’s a plan beyond that. They’re in their third generation of wealth, meaning it’s the grandson of the guy who ran it well. So that never bodes well.
Logan: No, it doesn’t. Do you think selling the team is the answer?
Craig: Yeah, I think getting a more robust owner. The Timberwolves got bought by A-Rod and, his partner and someone just outside coming in and interjecting some, they were, they were talking about Ishbia, who I think ended up increasing his ownership in the White Sox.
Logan: He did yeah.
Craig: But he was talking about getting out of the White Sox, buying the Twins. That would have been good for us too.
Logan: Yeah. I think he’s got his hands on the Phoenix Suns too. They bought Kevin Durant for, you know, 300 million or whatever that was for four years.
Craig: So I think you want someone whose ego is tied into it, you know?
Logan: Yeah. Do you think that there’s going to be a lockout? I mean, Dodgers win the World Series back-to-back. They give Otani more money than God’s ever seen. Do you think there’s going to be some sort of lockout within the next few years?
Craig: I think, unfortunately, we’re looking at it. I’m not an expert on that, but that’s everything I’ve been reading makes it feel like it.
Logan: I’m getting scared.
Craig: Yeah. it’s not good because it’s just bad for the sport every time.
Logan: Yeah. You mentioned a busy year, you know, toured a whole bunch. Now, In full honesty, I was unaware of the Hold Steady and yourself up until fairly recently. My buddy had a Lifter Puller song on a playlist, and then I caught you at Riot Fest and I went, this sound, it sounds so familiar, the voice. And I did some research and kind of fell down this rabbit hole and fell in love with you guys. So I’m new to the Craig Finn and the extended universe fandom. And you have put out a great, great record this year, “Always Been”, how was that process for you?
Craig: Well, it was really a record I’m really proud of so I was really excited for it to go out and it was really well received. You know, now that the sort of top 10, you know, top 25, top 100 lists of the year are coming in, there’s been some nice placements there. It was a record that I made it with Adam Granduciel, who plays in The War on Drugs, and we have been friends a long time. 2009 we met and it was just fun to spend, to have a reason to spend time with him. And, you talk about records, I mean, I’ve made a lot of records in my career now and this one was particularly easy to make. I find that when they’re easy, they sometimes are, they’re oftentimes better just because I just don’t remember any struggle with this record. I remember, you know, driving to the studio and being excited to be there. We met in California, which was fun. And I felt like I had a vision for it the whole time, it was sort of a real, it was a joy to make. And then because Adam brought in a lot of his War on Drugs bandmates to play on it, who most of them I also know, but they have their own band. So touring with that lineup was not really in the cards, but we did do one big show in New York.
Logan: The Bowery, right?
Craig: Yeah. And that was a year highlight, you know, just because it was so fun to get everyone together. There were so many moving parts. I think by the end of the stage, by the end of the show, there were 11 people on stage. But it all came together and it came together quickly and it was just a beautiful night and sort of look back that as that as a real highlight of the year in a year with a lot of highlights.
Logan: You mentioned a lot of people on stage. Do you remember the longest show you ever played?
Craig: The longest show I ever played. There was a time in The Hold Steady back in “Separation Sunday” touring, when I had this crazy idea that we should play every song we know. And I don’t know, I think it was going through a real populist phase, but I had this idea that was an ill-conceived idea, but that we should play every song and then people could leave whenever they wanted, you know? When you decide you’ve gotten your money’s worth.
Logan: Yeah, just coming and going.
Craig: That only lasted a few shows, but I remember one particular in Fargo where we were playing for three plus hours, and I think what I learned is I think people want to be part of the arc, meaning I don’t think people feel good when they have to leave when you’re still playing. And I also think that I hadn’t really considered how much touring we were about to do and what that does to someone’s voice, you know? So I think I was about to learn that playing a reasonable amount is probably a better idea night to night if you’re going to do 100, 200 days of touring in a year.
Logan: Busier with the whole thing and everything, you’re hitting up Europe in February, I believe. Your music is, I think uniquely talks about the American experience a lot and a lot of different aspects, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly. Do you notice a difference in reception from a European crowd versus an American crowd in your music?
Craig: Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of twofold. One is that The Hold Steady started going over to Europe in 2007 and we found a really receptive audience, especially in countries like England and Ireland where English is the first language, there’s a probably a decent drop off after those, for obvious reasons. There’s a lot of words in our songs and you know, I think when people have to translate it, it gets a little harder. But even places where English is very strong have been good, like Holland and Scandinavia. But in the UK, we’ve played some of our biggest shows ever. And I think I just meet people in the UK like a rock and roll fan that is really interested in the American experience and kind of almost in some cases feels like they know more about it than I do. I mean, I meet people that are like going on their honeymoon to Mississippi. And I’m like, that’s crazy, you know, but they’re steeped in all this American mythology that they’re very interested in. And, you know, I think that the history of rock’n’roll has kind of been that, you know, with the Beatles looking at Little Richard and then American bands looking at the Beatles and then maybe the English bands looking at the next wave of American bands. And so there is this kind of conversation back and forth that’s been part of rock and roll history. But yeah, I mean, it’s been an important part of my of my career with the band and with the solo work so I’m going over. I actually have three different trips to Europe for 2026, and that’s what I know so far. So yeah, it’s spending quite a bit of time over there.
Logan: Now with this record, always been kind of, this picture of America almost. And you really hone in on a lot of people’s vulnerabilities and kind of, you know, their darkest moments. I think you mentioned different characters. How do you decide which ones to kind of hone in on? There’s mentions of eating disorders and mental anguish and depression a lot in these songs. Do you have specific things that you’re pulling on, specific things that make you say, I want to write a song about this?
Craig: I mean, I think that for a long time, in their earlier Hold Steady, I was looking a lot at kind of, I was kind of making these fantastical characters. And at some point as I got older, I got more interested in kind of just people who were trying to do the right thing, but not able to for whatever reason, or not able to keep their head above water. And I think more and more I’m interested in mental health and, and sort of the way that, for lack of a better word, capitalism, but maybe… maybe just sort of modern, modern life or, the way technology’s evolved, kind of can be stacked against a normal person and what their struggles are and how mental health, finances, etc. play into all that.
Logan: A big theme in a lot of your music is religion and, Catholicism. And I was raised an Irish Catholic and, it’s cool to see music kind of reflect that upbringing in a way. When you bring in religion into your music, do you find yourself putting yourself back in the mindset of a kid who’s, you know, being dragged to church on Sunday morning or a more adult and, you know, cognitive relationship with it?
Craig: I think it’s the latter. I mean, I certainly was the kid being dragged to church, but, I’ve always been interested, I sort of, even though I consider myself kind of a labs Catholic, I still go to I still go to mass, not every Sunday, but I go because I like the experience. I think there’s a magic and a mysticism in it all that’s still very attractive, especially in a modern world, especially in a scientific world, and especially in a world that values technology so much to kind of consider this, you know, some of the most basic elements of old, very ancient stories and morality in that context. And I think there is this sense of, if you’re raised Catholic, if you’re raised in any church, really a lingering, a lingering sense of that when you get to big moments in your life.
Logan: Yeah, and I kind of see those big moments obviously the main character in “Always Been”, tries to become a preacher, even though his heart’s not in it or anything like that. When you’re writing these characters, is there any of you in it or is it fully some other character?
Craig: There’s always, I mean, John Gregory Dunn said the first character in every novel is the author, and I believe that. I mean, I do a podcast called “That’s How I Remember It”, we talk about this a lot in storytelling because I can write a story about a bank robbery, which I’ve never done, you know, we robbed a bank. But if I put, the bank that I’m robbing, the one that’s just down here, I know how to tell the story a little better because I know what the coffee shop that’s next to it and the dry cleaner that’s on the other side and all this, all these details that are for real. And I think when you tell a fictitious story, but put in details from your real life, you can approach more of an honest telling, even if you’re making up a big part of it. So I think that that’s kind of how it works in my own work.
Logan: You’ve been writing for a long time and there was a line in “Crumbs” that kind of stood out to me where the main character was talking about his niece and how she’s mostly on her phone these days. That wouldn’t have been a line 20 years ago. So is there a different approach you have to take to writing these younger characters nowadays?
Craig: Yeah I think I think that’s part of what has been interesting to me is having the characters age with me. And obviously in 20 years ago, I wouldn’t probably not have put even phone or not that character in a song because I once have been around that character a daughter, a young teenage daughter that that the parents, that is sort of at a distance from her parents, but now that is something. I don’t have kids of my own, but I certainly see it when I visit my friends. I think that’s part of the changing perspective of being an artist. I mean, I think that at some point, like when you’re growing up, maybe you have your parents mark your height against a wall or a door or something, and see how you grow. I think different projects as an artist, whether it’s a new album, a new book, whatever, show a changing perspective. Even if you aren’t getting taller physically, emotionally, you’re growing and each project kind of reflects a changing perspective.
Logan: These kind of narrative stories, I think, are a bit of a dying art form. You don’t see too many of these kind of out in the world. What would be any advice you would have to a younger artist who are also trying to weave these stories together?
Craig: I think that my advice is just persistence and to do it. I think that when I look back on my own career, there were a lot of times that I didn’t think I was making a difference. I mean, for instance, I’ve played shows, I’ve met people, once I had this band, I had that band Lifter Puller and that, I met people once I started The Hold Steady and things started going pretty well. And people were like, oh, yeah, I’ve been a fan of Lifter Puller since I saw you guys in Cleveland. And I’d be like, there were two people at that show and they’re like, yeah I was one of them. And I’m like, you should have said hello. But you can feel like you’re not connecting, and that guy is going on saying I’m a huge fan now and pops back up and you realize you were getting through. I think part of it is just doing it and creating a practice where you are working daily and working on whatever it is, whatever it is you’re doing.
Logan: When you’re touring, do you find it difficult to write on the road? If you’re touring, is it exclusively touring or are you also jotting stuff down?
Craig: It’s hard. It’s harder to come up with something organized, but you can still get ideas down. And, nowadays, I think all artists, I used to write notebooks and now I’ve got a lot in phone notes. If you if you get enough notes, I find travel really to be inspiring, but I can’t maybe necessarily put it in a good, you know, during tour and into like a well organized. My ideas aren’t that well organized, but I can get a lot of notes down that I can figure stuff out later.
Logan: For these characters, for “Always Been”, were these all characters written exactly for this record? Or were there songs that you’d kind of taken from the past? Or was it all, “Always Been”?
Craig: Almost all of it is “Always Been”. I sort of said that there’s probably eight out of eleven songs that move this one story forward. And then there’s these kind of, what I call bottle episodes. “Shamrock” would be one and “Luke and Leanna” would be one where “Ed Fletcher’s” would be one where they’re kind of in the same world, but they aren’t those exact same people. And I think of it a little bit like the movie “Pulp Fiction”, where there’s different things happening also, you know?
Logan: Yeah it’s a great, great record. Do you have any top records of the year yourself?
Craig: You know, I really loved, there’s a couple records. I loved The Fringe, the band Friendship from Philadelphia. They have a record “Caveman Wakes Up” that I loved. I liked the Wednesday record a lot. What’s his name? McMurtry. James McMurtry. His record, “Black Dog”, and I forget what the title is. Those are three that come to mind that I’ve just loved. But I think I loved more than that. It’s always hard when you’re put on the spot, but those are records I really, really, really connected with.
Logan: Yeah, thank you so much for taking the time with me. I really appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Craig: Thanks for being interested. It’s always great to have new people aboard. So I’m glad you saw us at Riot Fest. What were you there to see? Something else in particular or just there for Riot Fest?
Logan: I was there for The Pogues personally on that Friday. I was like, I’m not sure if I’ll ever see these guys again. And I was able to interview one of the members of The Pogues too, which was awesome.
Craig: I met one of them at a catering and actually James. James Walburn, who plays with him, he’s not really an OG Pogue, but he, I know I’m friendly with him, but one of, I can’t remember which guy I met at catering, but it was cool.
Logan: When you’re at a festival, do you stick around and watch the other bands?
Craig: Some, yeah. I mean, when I can, I used to. Like when we first started playing festivals, I would go in hard and I would probably to the detriment. I’d probably try too, I’d probably annoy people in catering and things like that. now I try to leave people alone, but, yeah, I liked seeing the bands. I can’t remember what I saw Weird Al at Riot Fest. I know that. was fun. Camper Van Beethoven started to think, I saw like some cool shit.
Logan: Well, those two stages that you were at, just great. I think Sparks was right there.
Craig: Yeah, right.
Logan: I cover a lot of festivals for this radio station. And it’s, there’s nothing like that festival. I’m not sure if you can attest to it, you’ve played it a few times, but like there’s such a wide variety.
Craig: It’s a great one. It’s a really good one. The festival that I would just, I mean it’s a sort of different musically, but New Port Folk Festival in Rhode Island is the number one. I mean, it’s the one I’ll go to as a fan. And the location, the music, the vibe is just like, and I think the cool thing about that one is they’ve just made it into such a cool thing that they sell it out before they announce the artists. So you don’t get like one artist fan, they’ll add a huge artist but their whole fan base won’t take it over because the tickets are already sold, you know? I saw Lana Del Rey there and it was very cool, but it was a different audience than you’d normally see for her because, you know, people didn’t know. So I don’t know, I thought it was great.
Logan: That’s awesome. Yeah, that’s the top of the list for me. It looks like you played that was that 2024?
Craig: Yeah, 20 is that right? ‘24. No, I played ‘24. I sat in with The War on Drugs. The Hold Steady played ‘23.
Logan: Okay, nice.
Craig: Yeah. I often end up there regardless of whether I’m playing.
Logan: So it’s not too far away from New York.
Craig: No, it’s great.
Craig Finn has another busy year in front of him, touring “Always Been” in Europe and a few New York shows this winter, supporting The Mountain Goats this fall, and The Hold Steady playing a few dates in the middle of the two. You can find tickets to Craig Finn’s shows here, and The Hold Steady here.
