Adam Gnade's (guh nah dee) work is released as a series of books and records that share characters and themes; the fiction writing continuing plot-lines left open by the self-described "talking songs" in an attempt to compile a vast, detailed, interconnected, personal history of contemporary American life. The lyrics of the songs come from prose writing (not poetry or spoken word) and the material is performed live, solo, with Adam on banjo or four-string guitar, generally unamplified, sitting or standing in the middle of the crowd.