Up-and-comer Howie Day comes to Mr. Small’s

It was a little more than four years ago when no one outside of Maine knew who Howie Day… It was a little more than four years ago when no one outside of Maine knew who Howie Day was or what he did.

Now, after years of successful touring and spreading the word about his debut album Australia, Day has become a household name.

Releasing Australia in 2000 on his own, later to have the album picked up and released by Epic, Day has sold over 100,000 copies of this freshman attempt. Graduating from that first year, Day has become extremely popular, especially among college students across the nation.

His sophomore album, Stop All the World Now, was released earlier this year and has kept the buzz going about Day. His powerful lyrics about love lost and love gained and being alone, backed by his intricate and incredible guitar work, have won fans over and over again.

Day sings with a bit of a raspy croon, at times hitting a nice falsetto sound to accentuate the emotion already present in his songs. The track “She Says,” which Day wrote at the age of 17 — he’s now 22 — was originally placed on Australia. But the new version is a cleaner studio rendition with which Day is much happier. It’s a powerful song that Day sings with a ton of emotion: “When she says she wants somebody else, hope you know, she doesn’t mean you / and when she breaks down and makes a sound, you’ll never hear her the way that I do.”

Day started touring as a solo act — using live loops and delays to give the feel of a band being present — but he does it all by himself with his guitar. It’s a very impressive live performance, and it is one that is never the same. Each time he plays a song live, it is completely different than the time before.

He is wrapping up a supporting tour with Barenaked Ladies and is then going off on a headlining tour that comes to Pittsburgh Wednesday, March 31 to Mr. Small’s Funhouse.

He is touring later this year with a band, marking the first time that Day has ever toured with a band. But hopefully, it will add to his live performance rather than hinder it.

Don’t worry, faithful Howie Day fans; when he makes his presence felt at Mr. Small’s, it will be solo — just him, his guitar and his delay pedals.

Howie Day will play an all-ages show at Mr. Small’s Funhouse on Wed., Mar. 31. Showtime starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $16 advance and $18 day of show.