The typical American currently manages about 100 passwords for their various accounts.  That’s not a typo.  It’s really 100 and the number is growing.  Last year, it was a mere 80 passwords, the most common of which was 123456.  (“Password” is only the fourth most common password.)

Luckily, the protagonist of Nick Sjostrom’s latest album, 1rregardle55, has a much better imagination than most when it comes to cybersecurity.  He uses his list of passwords as a jumping off point to share family recipes, lore, wisdom, and wistful reflections to his adult child as their roles in the family are becoming reversed.  These parental musings introduce and provide context for the album’s eight songs, all skillfully penned and sung by Sjostrom.

Without giving too much away, 1rregardle55, in its Bandcamp form, sits at the intersection of first-rate songwriting, literature, audio theater, and musicianship.  Yeah, it’s not a very busy intersection.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite like this before.  But it totally works – in all facets.  Without one note of contrivance or pretense, 1rregardle55, in story and song, presents an eleventh-hour effort to impart family history on the next generation before those memories are gone for good.

It’s a compelling work.  Caleb Stine, the album’s producer, said of 1rregardle55, “This is art at its deepest and most connective. Go to a quiet place, hit play and prepare for a movie to unfold in your imagination.”

Sjostrom has been elevating the art of audio in Baltimore since 2005 when he arrived in town from his native Chicago.  Even if you’re not familiar with his name, you have undoubtedly heard his work in some capacity.  Sjostrom is a Senior Sound Designer at Clean Cuts, the city’s premier audio services boutique, where he has plied his talents to a wide array of projects including television shows, movies, podcasts, commercials and music.  He has two Emmy nominations under his belt for his work in sound design.

Aside from his day job work, Sjostrom has produced, recorded, engineered, and played multiple instruments on a litany of albums by some of the top talents in the region including Caleb Stine, The Honey Dewdrops, Geraldine, Jonathon Vocke and Golden Aster.

“Everyone wants to record with Nick because he uses his super-powers to bring the artist’s vision to life,” Stine said.  “The guy is just that good.  And he’s easy to work with.  He has no ego in the studio—he’s there to help make your music come to life.”

The Honey Dewdrops (Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish) summed it up this way: “Having Nick involved in your project means that it’s going to sound excellent – that’s guaranteed.”

When he’s not in the studio or working the soundboard at live shows (most notably, the Across the Harbor concerts), Sjostrom is an accomplished musical performer in his own right.  He’s the ultimate sideman.  I’ve seen him in concert adeptly switch from bass guitar to piano to lead guitar to rhythm guitar to drums.

In addition to backing some great local acts, he’s a fixture in Caleb Stine’s band (The Brakemen) and a founding member of The Bottom Rung (which Maryland Roots Music hailed as “one of the top Fred Eaglesmith tribute bands in the tri-county area.”)

On July 13^th at An Die Musik Live! in Baltimore, Sjostrom celebrates the release of 1rregardle55 by stepping into the spotlight to lead his own band and special guests through a start-to-finish performance of the album and some of his other works.  It’s a rare opportunity for fans to see Sjostrom take center stage, and there is a definite buzz around town about the show.

I recently sat down with Sjostrom to talk about 1rregardle55 and all things music.  He said that the idea for the story upon which the album is based came to him as he was sitting by a lake in the New Hampshire wilderness (presumably NOT scrolling through Instagram on his iPhone.)

“It came to me at a time when I was recognizing that there is a lot of great music out there that I don’t personally connect with.  Part of that is that there is no context for me for that music,” he said.  Sjostrom hit on the idea of using a story as a way to set the scene and add gravity to the songs he was writing.

“My first idea was to throw the story away after I had the songs,” he said.  “But they connected more and more, and I decided to keep it.”

And it’s a good thing he did.  The album’s spoken word pieces are well-crafted and touching, but more importantly, they give listeners a respite at times from the serious and sometimes dark themes explored by the songs.  This juxtaposition of story and song serves to make each more powerful and engaging.  (BTW-Sjostrom’s narration on the album is spot on.  If the sound design thing doesn’t work out for him, his next career could be as a voice-over actor.)

Although the issue with passwords for various Internet-based accounts puts the album’s story squarely in modern times, there’s a deliberate timeless quality to the accompanying music, both in its instrumentation and lyrics.  The songs are piano based with arrangements that are lush yet intimate.  Sjostrom described them as having “an abstract dreaminess,” and it’s true.

The songs would sound vaguely familiar to the album’s protagonist if he first heard them on his parents’ high-fi when he was waiting with his friend Dave Burnt to play his copy of Meet the Beatles!  There aren’t any references in the lyrics that place the songs in a definite time or location.  I get a sense of mid-20th century America, but for another listener the songs could evoke an entirely different era or place.

The songs of 1rregardle55 don’t necessarily further the album’s linear narrative either.  Rather, they occupy the same universe as the story, and they are connected to the story (sometimes loosely), but in no way do they retell the story.  It speaks volumes about Sjostrom’s skill as a songwriter (and short story writer) that each component of the album can stand on its own as a fully realized work.  But I think the two together produce a synergy which elevates 1regardle55 way beyond the usual singer-songwriter fare.

The album was recorded over a long weekend in 2023, and Sjostrom has spent a good deal of time since working his studio magic on the project.  The 1rregardle55 band features an all-star lineup of Baltimore’s best including Ryan Finnerin, EJ Shaull-Thompson, Kagey Parrish, Laura Wortman, Caleb Stine, Burke Sampson, Patrick McAvinue, Maddie Bohman, and Samantha Flores.  Bea Sjostrom flew in from Chicago to add her violin talents, and Andrew Bohman engineered the project.

Sjostrom’s grand piano work throughout the album is elegant.  His vocals, which take front and center in the mix, are confident and affecting and perfectly suited to the songs’ arrangements and themes.  This is an album that not just bears repeated plays but demands it.  1rregardle55 reveals more nuanced revelations with every listen.

One of the album’s standouts is Orfeo in Space, whose changes are based on the jazz standard Black Orpheus.  The song uses the story of the first living creature to orbit the Earth, Laika the dog, as a literal launching pad for observations about the complicated nature of human relationships.  Really.  Burke Sampson’s guitar solo is outstanding, as is Laura Wortman’s vocal accompaniment which serves as a touching counterpoint to Sjostrom’s lead.

But if I had to choose a breakout single it would be Don’t Think I’ll be Coming Back from This.  Sjostrom said of it, “I originally wrote the song on a ukulele.  Then I slowly started digging down into its darker levels.”  Its bright, catchy chorus belies some serious themes.  But I still find myself engaging in carpool karaoke when it plays on my stereo.

I asked Sjostrom about what he thinks the public’s response to the album might be.  “The goal has been to connect deeply with an audience,” he said. “And that may be with a smaller audience with this.”

Or maybe not.  The album’s unique mix of narration and song and theme of passing on family stories to the next generation is going to resonate with a lot of folks, regardless of their age.  1rregardle55 may just turn out to be the right album for these times, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it finds a wider audience.  And launches some honest intergenerational discussions.

More information about Nick Sjostrom is available at his website:  NicholasSjostrom.com

The 1rregardle55 album is available on Bandcamp:  Music | nicholas sjostrom (bandcamp.com)

Tickets to the July 13 show are available at:  An Die Musik » An Die Musik Lives