Since arriving from his native Manhattan in 2006 to attend Carnegie Mellon University, Nathan Zoob has been a mover and shaker in the Pittsburgh music scene.
Now, he’s moving on.
The singer-songwriter-guitarist — who’s been a member of Wreck Loose and Backstabbing Good People along with the organizer of various tribute and holiday concerts for both WYEP and WDVE — is packing for a new life in Los Angeles, where he will pursue a master’s degree in studio guitar at University of Southern California.
He leaves behind a parting gift with a second solo album, “California Burning,” that strays from the power-pop of Wreck Loose for the airy indie folk-pop sound, akin to a Nick Drake, Fleet Foxes or Midlake, that highlights his fluid guitar work and tender vocals.
He started the process three years ago, setting out to make a spare, melancholy record, with Joni Mitchell in the back of his mind.
“I had all these songs — some of them written, some of them still to come — that came out of a heartbreak, and I was still in that mode when I started making the record. So, the idea was that this was going to be some small, provincial version of ‘Blue.’ ”
After sitting down with producer Jake Hanner and working through arrangements, he says, “it naturally began to grow and I'm probably a bit of a maximalist, so I don't know that spare is in my wheelhouse. So I began adding layers and it began to glow more and more.”
Kayla Schureman and Morgan Erina apply their golden voices to “Standing Waters” and “Shepherd,” respectively. Bassist Jason Rafalak (Buffalo Rose) and drummer Marc Martinka (Cisco Kid) add some rhythmic gallop to four songs and he also gets contributions from Wreck Loose pianist Max Somerville, Iron City Houserockers harmonica player Marc Reisman (on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mama You Been On My Mind”) and singers Addi Twigg, Kiki Brown and Rosanna Spindler, among others.
The album cover came courtesy of a visit to the Massachusetts home of artist and Pittsburgh punk/folk-punk pioneer Karl Mullen.
Zoob will release “California Burning” with a show Thursday at The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls in Millvale — and then he’s going west with the goal of being an LA studio musician.
“I've never had a formal music education,” he says, “and I've wanted that kind of conservatory experience my whole life and never thought I would get it. I applied on a whim, and it was a moonshot. It was the only school that I applied to, and it was the only program that I really had any interest in.
“I want to compete in LA, and I have it in my head that I need to sit down and really force myself to whip myself into shape for two years.”
On leaving Pittsburgh, he says, “I’m really scared and sad and excited. I'm not excited to leave Pittsburgh, but I'm excited to try something new. As an adult, this is the only place that I've ever lived and even though I grew up somewhere else, this was the place where I kind of became a person and there was an ecosystem here that I felt really comfortable in and I felt really supported and nurtured in.”
The show begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $5. CDs will be available for sale; mrsmalls.com.
First Published: July 27, 2021, 2:16 p.m.
Updated: July 27, 2021, 2:16 p.m.
