Kevin Bronson on December 13th, 2010

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When I talked to Joe Purdy in 2006 at his rental home in Glendale*, I thought I’d never met a songwriter so at peace with being just a guy with a guitar. Purdy had spent some six years making his poignant, heartfelt folk songs and building a big following at Molly Malone’s and then in the nascent days of the Hotel Cafe, but he’d spurned traditional record-industry deals in favor of going it alone. Now, 12 albums (in about eight years) later, Purdy – who has since relocated back to his native Arkansas – is a cottage industry, having earned consistent placements in television and film and sold some 800,000 downloads. The prolific 30-year-old’s latest album, “This American,” is available for free download for the month of December from his website. No strings.

||| Download: “This American”
* And I still apologize for my departure causing such a commotion that Purdy’s dog cracked the picture window.