Lou Hazel’s Charming Ruminations on Living

In some sense, a singer/songwriter’s most essential function is observation: to collect and catalogue the ordinary and extraordinary into relatable stories. They’re set to music, and sung out loud just so, so that the listener feels something and maybe, if they — or the songwriter is extra lucky — learns something, too. Durham, North Carolina-based musician Lou Hazel inhabits this role as curious spectator, with a particular bent toward minute and absurd circumstances, and evoking with his slightly-twisted kaleidoscope of revealing, thoughtful ruminations, the likes of John Prine and Dave Van Ronk.