Raised on Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire, Nathan Graham bridges South Side Blues with Nashville Americana to deliver a bittersweet and soulful sound. He spent a decade building his career as a guitar-for-hire, backing blues singers at famous haunts like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines, before forming bands to perform his own music and lyrics. But it took a bit of convincing to overcome self-doubt as a singer. He puts it all together on his debut record Saint of Second Chances, where his guitars reach from delicate and pristine to hugely powerful. Tracks like “Good Honest Man” speaks frankly about the urge to give up on love rather than risk loss, while “Fake Friends” offers a stomping, nostalgic rhythm behind some anxious self-reflection: “Saw you going down, down in flames / Well I guess I just didn’t know that I was doing the same.” Nathan Graham projects stories of the human condition, somehow both achingly painful and exquisitely comforting. His guitars convey heartbreak, lyrics tell stories of regret, but his rich vocal delivery offers the remedy.