Joe hails from the southern streets of Maryland. He spent a few collegiate years in North Carolina but dropped out for a number of reasons (including boredom and ineptitude). Currently he resides in Chicago, where he works as a carpenter by day and a songwright by night. He's grateful to everyone listening to the songs he wrote. He apologizes to everyone living in the houses he built.

Some early reviews:

"Earnest, touching, and world-weary far beyond his mere 22 years, Joe Pug often recalls early Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.... Pug exhibits a thoughtfulness and social consciousness th... (+) expand

Joe hails from the southern streets of Maryland. He spent a few collegiate years in North Carolina but dropped out for a number of reasons (including boredom and ineptitude). Currently he resides in Chicago, where he works as a carpenter by day and a songwright by night. He's grateful to everyone listening to the songs he wrote. He apologizes to everyone living in the houses he built.

Some early reviews:

"Earnest, touching, and world-weary far beyond his mere 22 years, Joe Pug often recalls early Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.... Pug exhibits a thoughtfulness and social consciousness that's rare in singer-songwriters more than twice his age, and a talent that's even rarer." – Dean Ramos, Illinois Entertainer

"Joe Pug is a local Chicago kid who's been writing songs for all of 6 months, which is why you haven't heard of him. But that's why you're here, I hope, so I'm not going to insult your intelligence by telling you who Pug will remind you of. Just listen to "Hymn 101" and think about what kind of lyrics you would've written at 22, and then go back to reading blogs and feeling untalented like I did."--No Dessert For You

"The singer songwriter genre is riddled with talented people who write B-minus/C-plus songs, which only adds to the surprise when you stumble upon someone who writes truly great ones With "Hymn 101" Chicago's Joe Pug literally stunned me. The song is a gorgeous display of lyricism and melody, and it makes a strong case that Pug could hold his own with heavyweights of the genre like Richard Buckner and M. Ward. The singer is putting finishing touches on his first EP which will be released this fall.....I'd be hard put to come up with a better suggestion for the next four minutes of your life than to listen to this song." Ghost Media - (On Hymn 101) (Sep 25, 2007)

The songs I’ve heard place him squarely in a much richer tradition- where comparisons to Dylan seem natural but are maybe a bit naïve- populated by songwriters like John Prine, Jesse Winchester, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark or even Paul Westerberg.....The disc is comprised of seven exquisitely crafted songs, including... two absolutely visionary hymns."-- Erik Forseth, Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest Newspaper)

(-) collapse