On this episode of the In Conversation podcast, we are thrilled to welcome Craig Finn of The Hold Steady as our guest. Finn joined to talk about his fantastic new solo album A Legacy of Rentals, out now on Positive Jam and Thirty Tigers.
In both his earlier works—first in the underrated Lifter Puller and later in his current band The Hold Steady—Finn had built rich narratives around unsavory characters. But with his solo work over the past decade, he has shifted to taking a more empathetic view of everyday people living under the gun in America. His new record is full of bruised characters just trying to do their best and not always succeeding.
In this conversation we discuss the inspirations behind A Legacy of Rentals, the narrative differences between his solo work and The Hold Steady, the joys of going to shows and the movies by yourself, discovering the Kinks, his collaborative relationship with producer Josh Kaufman, and so much more.