Thumbsed Up - Nathan K

Hello! This is your friend in the orange hoodie, Nathan K. (although, now that it’s getting warmer, I should probably switch to a t shirt.. don’t worry I bought a few.)

Before we get into it – I’m excited to share with you my song called Thumbsed Up which just came out on 5/16. It’s about how when I first met Sara Beth and we started texting, I was relieved that she had an iPhone. I had promised myself to never date another android user again after a bad experience. Now we are married! Check it out here https://linktr.ee/nathankmusic

I heard that the ghost of Steve Jobs doesn’t like the song, and I have the receipts to prove it. Oh well!

I’m writing to you from West Frankfurt IL, where I had a show tonight. It’s an hour or so from Metropolis, home of Superman! I know that because the Sufjan Stevens album Come On Feel The Illinoise has a song called Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts. Remember how the original album cover had Superman on it but he got in trouble with DC Comics and had to cover him up with balloons? I have the CD and I’m pretty sure it’s the original printing with a balloon sticker that was used to cover up Superman before they started printing it with balloons on the actual artwork. That album came out 20 years ago which I don’t even want to think about. I went to the 2005 concert in Nashville at Cannery Ballroom where they wore the cheerleader outfits. It was awesome.

Anyway, tonight’s show was very meaningful for many reasons, but especially because my friend Eric was there. We have a lot of things in common. One of my favorite of those things was that we had the same therapist for a while named George. I would always bring up Eric in my sessions to try and get him to admit he knew him, but he wouldnt budge. Something about “ethical codes”. He’d just smile and say things like “wow Eric guy seems like a really cool guy” – which I couldn’t argue with.

In 2020, a week before the world shut down, Sara Beth, Eric, and some other friends started a group chat where we started sharing songs that we had written that week. Every Sunday at like 10pm I would hurry and write and record something. Eventually I started writing them earlier and earlier in the week and producing them out by the end of the week. In Jan 2024 I started doing one every day Monday-Friday after I got home from work.. a few weeks ago I crossed over a milestone of having sent 500 songs to the group chats. (It’s up to 529 or so now..) I didn’t memorialize it in any way. I kept it to myself. But I’m proud of that. And I’m grateful for the 4 people including Eric who have listened to all 529. It’s been life changing having the mental concept in my mind as I write that whatever I write will be heard by someone like him with the full knowledge and context of artistry, and that he’ll get it. It helps me take a lot more risks creatively because I’m not as worried. I can speak more about that at another point but I think that having folks you share your work with regularly is important for that reason. Writing with a specific audience of 3-4 people in mind is so much more effective than writing for “the whole world”, this vague army of people you’ll never meet and will never meet you. Thanks Eric.

And thank YOU, too. I have been slow to share my recent songs with the world, but the past few months I have broken that seal, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of them with you specifically. It means a lot to me. And I’d always love to hear what you’re working on too. We’re all in this together. Thanks for being here.

with love,
nk

UPCOMING SHOWS:
– 5/17: Kansas City KS (Squanchero Gardens w/ Sara Beth Go)- click for RSVP
– 6/21: Red Lodge MT (Red Lodge Songwriter Festival – I’m a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest!)
– 7/3 -7/6: Urbana IL (Audiofeed Festival)