Nathaniel Talbot is an introspective singer-songwriter who draws his inspiration from the juxtaposition of modern culture and the simple, organic way he lives as a farmer.
As the owner of an organic vegetable farm and seed company on Whidbey Island on Puget Sound, Talbot has a firm grasp on what it means to work hard and reap the rewards.
It’s also given him a unique perspective on a different kind of machinery, though not his solar-powered tractor. In “Dime by Dime," Talbot turns his songwriter’s eye on the social media machine, exploring what he calls “the new American junk culture, in which virtues of personal branding, consumer convenience, and uninterrupted entertainment take priority over doing real work.”
Talbot adds that “It was actually inspired by an article I read which polled current high-schoolers about their ideal future jobs. It concluded that 'Professional YouTuber' was by far the most aspired-to job of this next generation. I found that weirdly dark and dystopian, but then again I'm an organic farmer, so I'm living in a completely different world.”
“Dime by Dime” is a single off of his upcoming album, due out in mid-November, entitled Animal. On the album, Talbot moves away from his signature acoustic style with traditional folk instruments like fiddle and mandolin and plugs in to explore his sound in an electrified arena. As Talbot comes to terms with his organic lifestyle as it meets the technologically driven world, so will this album explore “new intersections of roots, blues and pop.”
Proving that perhaps it all can coexist.
“I'm excited to continue exploring this electric sound,” Talbot says. “You can expect future work to be more dancey, hooky and accessible than my previous, relatively dense and esoteric, folk records.”
But don’t expect it to be too much of a deviation from the soul of his work. Talbot adds, “despite this move toward a more pop/rock sound, I suspect my lyrics will continue to attempt to explore the deeper stories of the human experience.”
