David Bazan – No. 997

David Bazan (born January 22, 1976) is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones. In early 2006, he began performing and recording under his own name. Bazan’s solo ablums include Curse Your Branches (2009), Strange Negotiations (2011) and last month’s Blanco (May 13, 2016). Blanco is made up of remixed and updated songs that were previously available in a limited series called Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (2014) and Bazan Monthly: Volume 2 (2015). Even more recently, on Twitter, Bazan and TW Walsh (former Pedro the Lion bandmate) announced their new rock band, Lo Tom, with Jason Martin and Trey Many.

I’ve been listening to Pedro the Lion for many years, but I also really enjoy David Bazan’s new music. Three of the first four songs on Bazan Monthly: Volume 1 (“Impermanent Record,” “Deny Myself” and “Sparkling Water”) are particularly amazing—as well as “Oblivion” (which appears on both Volume 2 and Blanco). I’d like to make it to one of Bazan’s summer tour dates in Washington or Idaho—especially one of the shows with Laura Gibson, who is fantastic. The June 16 show (happening in two days) in Boise, Idaho has become the only possibility now because work commitments conflicted with the Washington dates. However, since my wife is 36-weeks pregnant with our second child, I am thinking hard about traveling to Idaho this week—though yesterday she told me to go as a Father’s Day present. (So I’m probably going.) On March 21, 2016, I was able see David Bazan play an acoustic house show in Eugene, Oregon, and I am grateful for that; it was an ideal mix of solo, Pedro the Lion and Headphones songs. But I still want to see Bazan and Laura Gibson on tour together.