
And actually if you listen to a lot of music out there, they didn’t stop in time. Or if there is something that hasn’t been fixed it doesn’t matter. So, yeah, even if half of the canvas is empty that doesn’t really matter. Echoing the lyrics of “Maybe,” he replied: “When you’re done, you’re done.” He continued, “Yeah, actually what I’ve noticed is when you paint a picture, I paint too, I actually think of myself as a painter, you notice at some point that anything I do now is just gonna make it worse. I told him that I admire this quirk in his music and that it takes guts to end a song like that.

Many of his songs are very short, some even under a minute.
#Dan reeder work song series#
Reeder has rarely has been interviewed, but has collected a legion of devoted fans after putting out a series of beloved albums on John Prine’s Oh Boy Records - including the much-anticipated new LP Every.
#Dan reeder work song full#
“Maybe I sing, oohooh, like a pussy boy/But that don’t mean I ain’t got no./testosterone.” Every song carries the same amount of honesty and the songs that are funny are no less full of meaning. This week on The Show On The Road Podcast, a conversation with renegade roots songwriter, painter and NSFW self-taught poet Dan Reeder. He has a talent for delivering X-rated lyrics in such a soothing and emotional way. His songs range from sincere and melancholic like “Beachball” to ludicrous and hilarious like “Born a Worm” or a song like “Pussyboy,” which makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Even though the intended “topic” of our conversation was his new album, he seemed more interested in what I was up to these days. Reeder is a humble, mild-mannered tinkerer an inquiring mind with the playfulness of a child. If that makes him a musician, then he is a musician. He replied, “I’m sort of a musician by accident.” He elaborated when I asked him about playing live: “I always had the feeling like I was a guy from a cartoon where he goes looking for the bathroom and gets sort of lost and ends up on stage by accident.” Reeder is always creating, whether that be through painting or music making. He said, “On Sunday mornings I sit at the breakfast table and make little drawings and I wanted it to have that sort of character.” I asked him if music has always taken a backseat in regards to painting. The artwork for the latest album, Every Which Way, is more of a collage of doodles. He designs all his album artworks, further contributing to his homemade style. A few of the songs here are destined to become staples of the folk scene, which song will depend on the singer because the work done with lyrics (some of which do make liberal use of four-letter words in explicit context if you are easily offended) and arrangements are stunning and hilarious.He told me that he thinks of himself primarily as a painter. This is one that is not going to get a lot of airplay, because it is not going to fit anywhere, yet it should not be missed.


The songs are well put together and contain some wonderful word play, and there are some very good intelligent lyrics without sounding the least bit contrived, cute, or forced. It is a disc that grows to full appreciation with every listening. It runs the gamut, from the folk of "Three Chords," to the sly blues gospel sound of "My Little Bitty Pee Pee," to the field chant of "Work Song," to whatever else enters Reeder's head and he decides to put down on this magnificent disc. Shackles And Chains Here In The Kitchen My Little Bitty Pee Pee Work Song Po Po Dancing. It is a powerful maiden disc and one that is complete in every way in itself, and yet leaves the listener hungering for more. Dan Reeder is an album by Dan Reeder, released in 1990. Reeder wrote all the songs, produced the disc, played all the instruments, did the art work, did all the vocals, recorded and mixed this, and it seems, made some of the instruments. From the first song all the way through to the 18th, and several glorious trips later, the listener is still captivated by the intelligence and wit contained in these relatively short, yet very complete, vignettes. The simple fact that Dan Reeder's self-titled album is on John Prine's record label speaks volumes for this disc right off the bat.
