Somewhat unexpectedly, Tim Showalter of Strand of Oaks sat down at the piano in The Current studio. "It's nice to switch it," Showalter says. "It's definitely something you need to learn over the course of writing a song; tricks don't make a song. It still has to have some basis."

In the Twin Cities for a show at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, Showalter visited The Current studio for a solo-piano session hosted by Mary Lucia. "I'm not a trained pianist by any stretch of the imagination," Showalter says about playing the songs on piano, "but I think the lyrics take on a whole new meaning."

Strand of Oaks's latest album, Hard Love, reflects Showalter's life view. "I think life is totally capable of being ecstatically joy[ful] and sad at the same time," he says. "That's just how I approach loving other people and trying to love myself."

Showalter says he's doing his best to live in the present and to be sincere. "One thing I'm really happy about is I don't have cynicism," he says. "If I genuinely love something, I sing about it or feel it. … It's such an important thing to remember as we continue to go through this life: Just because you feel like you've experienced a lot doesn't mean there's thousands and millions of new firsts you can have."

Lucia and Showalter enjoy a thoughtful conversation; use the audio player above to listen to the full session and to Showalter's beautiful piano-and-voice renditions of his songs.

Songs Performed

"Radio Kids"
"Cry"
"Goshen '97"
The first two songs are from Strand of Oaks' 2017 release, Hard Love; the third song is from 2014's HEAL. Both albums are available on Dead Oceans.

More Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96UUBsIkeUU

Hosted by Mary Lucia
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Leah Garaas
Web feature by Luke Taylor

Resources

Strand of Oaks - official site

Gallery

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