Casey Stratton laces many of the songs on his sixth CD, Divide, with political commentary. Yet the Michigan singer-songwriter stresses that he's not mounting a soapbox. "I wanted to comment on the conditions we are faced with in this world and how I have been affected, being an American in this time," he says. "I didn't want to be preachy." Still, lyrics like "Ashes cover the bodies/War-torn and lost/Ashes cover everything/Nothing remains" (from a song called "The Wasteland," no less) take direct aim at current events. Says Stratton, who recently started his own label after being stuck in major-label development hell for years: "It's just reflection."
Tue., July 18, 7 p.m.
