Wilkinsburg Musician Prepares to Unveil New Songs in Show

Eve Goodman is ready to perform a new album that’s been nearly seven years in the making.

“What the Living Do,” a collection of indie folk, is a representation of the Wilkinsburg resident’s last decade of life, with songs that were written years ago and finally preserved in a recording.

The title track is inspired by a poem written by Marie Howe.

“I actually wrote it when I lived in Nashville and saw it printed in the Atlantic Monthly,” Goodman said. “It’s one of the rare occasions where the music came first and I just started adapting the poem to a song. A lot of the words are directly from the poem.”

Good is performing new songs from the album with a band at 7 p.m. June 9 at Club Cafe in the South Side.

This particular album, which features 17 tracks, was created in an organic way, as it allowed Goodman to get back to the basics of music with her guitar.

“When I moved to Pittsburgh from Nashville in 2001 I was pretty burnt out on music and didn’t think I’d make another recording,” she said. “I wasn’t really performing and was just playing music for my own enjoyment—getting back to why I even started playing in the first place.”

Then, she met Michael Young, who hosts blues jams every weekend, and began making connections. John Caldwell, a doctor by day and a producer by night, then started to work with Goodman on what has become the final product—What the Living Do.

“For fun, we just started recording and it morphed into us putting out a CD,” Goodman said. “It’s really been a seven to eight year project and sometimes I didn’t think it’d see the light of day. I am really proud of it.”

The most freeing thing for Goodman has been giving up control and hearing Caldwell’s suggestions throughout the process.

“Sometimes I would agree with them and sometimes I wouldn’t, but it was just a really good thing for me to learn,” she said.

One song, “As it Is” was inspired by a story she heard on “This American Life” on National Public Radio. A man was doing a fun bar survey asking if people could have a superpower, would they rather fly or be invisible. A lot of women said they’d rather be invisible.

“It was a really poignant part of the conversation,” she said. “A lot of times I know I feel invisible.”

Goodman is looking forward to performing with a full band as she usually has performed solo or with one other person.

“I hope a lot of people come,” she said with a laugh.

For more information and to listen to Goodman’s music, visit http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/evegoodman3.