Nathan Singleton & His Sideshow Tragedy

Itinerant Youth (Nondescript)

His debut, an impressive set of stylized Americana, pegged Nathan Singleton as a local artist to watch. Itinerant Youth, his second effort, is a head-scratcher, however. He’s turned to the weaker aspects of what he does and expanded on them, while mostly ignoring those things that made him interesting. Although the same influences reign – bits of Dylan, the Waterboys, Chris Whitley – Singleton tries too hard to impress, coming across as a shouter without much to say. Particularly egregious is “The Ballad of Stagolee and the Preacher Man,” a story told incisively too many times already and a big signpost to Singleton’s lack of originality. Toward the end, “The Fog in the City” lifts for a dark moment of clarity, but it doesn’t salvage Itinerant Youth.

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This article appears in June 13 • 2008.

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