The Still-Beating Heart of American Folk Has a Name, and That Name is hahawiener420

Trust me on this one: I think hahawiener420 is a sensational songwriter. With effortless picking and pipes to match. He stopped me dead in my tracks when I first flicked across one of his videos a few months back. The folks in the comments invoke Dylan and Prine and I’d have to agree. It’s the plain-spoken truths delivered with a knowing wink. He’s fidgety and unpretentious and pretty obviously in his 20s, but he also seems to have lived a hundred lives.

The melodies are campfire earworms. And lyrically, he constructs piles of youthful heartland memorabilia (packs of Marlboro Lights sold to truckers during a long night’s shift, Jim Beam left on the table and boxed wine on the floor) and crumpled up, cheeky love poems (“I’d like to see that mullet in the back seat of my van,” “You’re like the broad side of a barn that I’ll still miss.”)

The bottom line about Mr. Wiener is that none of this feels like hackneyed hero worship. He’s using the folk medium in real time, studying the classics to frame himself in something timeless and sturdy.

He's just begun to release more music on Youtube and streaming. He’s got a mere five demos on Soundcloud. But really, if you're able, I recommend a tour through the ol’ TikTok, because there are several bright gems, both originals and covers, littered throughout. Songs that are yet to–or maybe never will–see any other light of day.