Dougie Poole :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Dougie Poole’s got a clear-eyed view of our modern moment and a country songwriter’s ability to sum it up in a perfect line. The songs on his 2020 album The Freelancer’s Blues concerned themselves with the ennui and indignity of urban 21st century work, life, and work-life – dead-end gig economy jobs, cross-country moves from one coast to another, and the yearning for a “Natural Touch” while cycling through futile first dates. Poole’s new album, The Rainbow Wheel Of Death, finds him doomscrolling even further, and just as before, he finds “troubles stacked like dishes / in a crooked pile.”

Dougie Poole :: The Freelancer’s Blues

Dougie Poole is the patron saint of millennial malaise. On The Freelancer’s Blues, the Brooklyn-based country slacker sings about familiar tropes: vaping on the job, trying Buddhism for a week, considering a move out west, and finally, giving up to hang out at the bar with his buddies. Playing with common woes, pop sheen, and sideways humor, Poole invests his particular blues with a wink and a crooked smile.