Joe Pug gives himself permission to keep going

Joe Pug’s The Great Despiser is one of those albums that, from the first time you hear it, makes you wonder: How is he going to top this? And given the time that has passed since that 2012 disc arrived, you might have figured that he couldn’t.

Except he has. His new album, Windfall, is even better.

Pug’s singular voice is what first grips you — a dark, knotted-wood sound that follows the contours of his guitar chords and weeps along with the slide guitar. But the lyrics are what keep you. Windfall‘s songs aren’t dense with words, but what Pug does sing feels profound and, sometimes, hopeful.

Ahead of Pug’s Saturday-night show at RecordBar, I called him on the road.

The Pitch: I know you took a brief hiatus from music at the end of 2013. What happened in that period?

Pug: I just had time to reflect on what I was doing for a living, and in that time of reflection, I got to really appreciate how great it is and how lucky I am to have the opportunity to do music for a living. I mean, if you travel the country for seven or eight years and you’re away from home all the time, it can wear on you after a while. You can wonder whether what you’re doing is worthwhile or not.

The title of the album kind of references the thought process there. Normally, when you think of a windfall, you think of money or material remuneration. For me, it was more of a spiritual thing, being able to look around and realizing how rich my life is, and that felt like gaining the entire world all at once.

You’re getting married this summer. What are some of the things you’re excited for and maybe afraid of as you begin this new stage in your life?

It’s not really that much of a big change, actually. I’ve never had that vibe of the lone ranger out doing his own thing. I’ve been with my partner for — well, she and I have been together the whole time that I’ve toured, for the last six or seven years. So us getting married will be a big party and a chance to celebrate, but it won’t be a big departure from anything that we’ve been doing. I don’t want to get into it too much, but I would just say that if people want something to work, it works, and that’s where we’ve always been.

I’ve seen you live a number of times, and it’s always a really moving experience. It’s the kind of performance that seems like it would take a lot out of the artist, and you tour most of the year. Tell me what it’s like to put so much of yourself out there onstage.

I mean, that’s how you make a living. You’ve just got to be on the road all the time, performing that way. For me, when we’re on the road, getting to play shows for people, that hour and a half that you’re on the stage, that’s the one part of the day we’re getting energy. I’m not putting energy out. People are giving it to us. That’s the rejuvenating part of the day for me. Getting onstage, that’s the easiest part of the whole thing.

You’re from Maryland, but you’ve started over in different places — North Carolina, Chicago, Austin — a bunch of times. I get the impression that you feel like you’re in a good place.

Well, I’m 30 now, and your 20s can be a really — you’re figuring so much out, and the amount of information that you don’t have in your 20s is staggering. It probably still is now, occasionally, but things are much more clear. I think that’s why I was moving around a lot then. Now, it feels really good to be in this place in my life, with my band. Everyone knows how to do this job. Everyone just works hard, and there’s no anxiety about getting things right or wrong because we’re just going to work, so it’s a good spot. Not all spots in life are like this, so we’re just trying to enjoy it as much as we can.