Clint Maedgen is as eclectic as he is prolific, and late last year he released the EP Clint Maedgen and the album Soft Emergencies under the Bingo! Show monicker. He writes lullabies, country, waltzes, field hollers, the blues and genre-free songs that combine whatever the 20th Century had to offer, including rock-oriented tracks he performs and records as Liquidrone. Soft Emergencies emphasizes his melodic gifts, with acoustic instruments—particularly the violin—figuring prominently in the sound. The results are often startling in their lush, vulnerable clarity, particularly “I Give It All to You” and the soaring “Lullaby for Cloud 9.” The latter also shows that Maedgen has one of the most beautiful voices in the city.

 

If anyone needs to kill the father, though, it’s Maedgen. Tom Waits is one of his influences, and Soft Emergencies has a few songs in which that is simply too obvious. “Lookin’ for That Lucky Five,” recalls Frank’s Wild Years era Waits, and “She Loves a Circus” hearkens back to the One From the Heart soundtrack. Maedgen is also influenced by Prince, and has made himself cry singing “Condition of the Heart” live before, but you only hear the Prince in his melody lines once you know to listen for them. I look forward to the day when I have to know what to look for to hear Waits’ influence in his music because now, it is distracting and invites doubt about a talent that shouldn’t be doubted.