Grew up in Maine. Lives in Texas. Writes songs. Makes records. Travels around. Tries to be good.

Joseph Hudak of Rolling Stone calls Cleaves “a master storyteller, one influenced not by the shine of pop-culture but by the dirt of real life.”

The characters in Slaid Cleaves’ songs live in unglamorous reality. They work dead-end jobs, they run out of money, they grow old, they hold on to each other (or not), and they die. With an eye for the beauty in everyday life, he tells their stories, bringing a bit of empathy to their uncaring world.