Craig A. Finn (born August 22, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the frontman of the American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

the Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (g ...

, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums. Prior to forming the Hold Steady, Finn was the frontman of Lifter Puller. Described by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' as "a born storyteller who's chosen rock as his medium," Finn has released six solo albums: '' Clear Heart Full Eyes'' (2012), '' Faith in the Future'' (2015), '' We All Want the Same Things'' (2017), '' I Need a New War'' (2019), ''A Legacy of Rentals'' (2022) and ''Always Been'' (2025). In 2022, Finn began hosting his own

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, ''That's How I Remember It'', released through the '' Talkhouse Network''. The podcast examines the relationship between

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...

and

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

through interviews with other musicians and artists. Finn began hosting a second podcast, ''Summer Album/Winter Album'', in 2025.

Early life

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Finn grew up in Edina, Minnesota. He was raised a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Finn attended Valley View Middle School and graduated from Breck School. In 1993 he earned a bachelor's from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. Before moving to New York City in 2000, Finn was a financial broker for American Express Financial Advisors in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Finn got a job at a live music webcasting company called Digital Club Network. After the move to New York, Finn did not play music for two years until forming

Musical career

With Lifter Puller

In Minneapolis, Finn was a member of the band Lifter Puller from 1994 to 2000. The band included Tad Kubler, who later joined Finn in the Hold Steady. The band released three albums, two compilations, an EP and a number of singles. In 2009 the material was re-issued digitally supported by a book: ''Lifter Puller vs. the End Of''. The re-releases included live material and the compilation ''Slip Backwards''.

With the Brokerdealer

Finn had a short stint of work with Mr. Projectile after moving to

in the fall of 2001. The result of was two EP's, ''Untitled EP 1'' and ''Untitled EP 2''

With the Hold Steady

Finn moved to

in the fall of 2001, after Lifter Puller broke up, for a change and because he and his wife knew people there. Kate Siver, 'The Hold Steady: Ex-Lifter Puller Members Return from NYC Exile as the Hold Steady', The Pulse of the Twin Cities, Wednesday 10 March @ 15:12:06 He has said that with

, he's been trying to produce a more positive, coherent, story-based message in a natural way that he could imagine someone saying.

Work with other artists

Craig Finn provided his voice to

Titus Andronicus ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'', often shortened to ''Titus Andronicus'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first t ...

's second album, ''The Monitor''. He is the voice of Walt Whitman at the very end of their song "A Pot in Which to Piss" . He worked with

rapper P.O.S on the song "Safety In Speed (Heavy Metal)" which was released on the 2006 album ''Audition''. Always close to the Twin Cities music scene, he also contributed to Minnesota musician Mark Mallman's song "You're Never Alone in New York" on the 2009 album '' Invincible Criminal''. In between being in Lifter Puller and the Hold Steady, he was in a project with Mr. Projectile known as the Brokerdealer, a techno styled group. They released two unnamed EPs. In 2010 he co-wrote, with Chris Cheney, the title track from

the Living End The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...

's 2011 album, ''The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating'', while Cheney was in New York City. After working together, Cheney called Finn "a hell of a lyricist". In 2011, Finn performs lead vocals for a

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

tribute song "Don't Call Them Twinkies" on the Baseball Project's second album '' Volume 2: High and Inside''. In 2012, he sang backup on the title track for Joe Pug's album, '' The Great Despiser''. On April 8, 2014, Cheap Girls premiered the song "Man In Question" from their '' Famous Graves'' album. The track features Finn on guest vocals. On February 22, 2016, Craig released a split single with

named "No Faith / No Future / No Problem". On this split, Titus Andronicus covers Craig's "No Future" from his debut solo album, ''Clear Heart Full Eyes'', and Craig Finn covers Titus Andronicus's "No Future" from their debut album, ''The Airing Of Grievances''.

Solo

Finn's first solo album, recorded in Austin, Texas, entitled ''Clear Heart Full Eyes'', was released January 24, 2012 through

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock music, rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk music, folk, soul music, so ...

. A second solo album, ''Faith in the Future'', was released in 2015. Following ''Faith in the Future'', Craig Finn released the ''Newmyer's Roof'' EP featuring the title track "Newmyer's Roof" and six songs that were not on ''Faith in the Future''. The EP was originally made available in June 2015 as a pre-order download via PledgeMusic, but was given a full release on March 4, 2016, via

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam's South B ...

. In December, 2016, Finn released "Preludes", the first single from his next album, titled ''We All Want the Same Things'', which was released via Partisan Records on March 24, 2017. On January 30, 2019, Partisan Records announced the April 26 release of Finn's fourth album, ''I Need A New War'', and released the first song from the album, "Blankets". On May 20, 2022, ''A Legacy of Rentals'' was released on Positive Jams/ Thirty Tigers. On April 4, 2025, Finn released his sixth solo studio album, ''Always Been'', produced by the War on Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel. The album features Granduciel and the War on Drugs appearing throughout as Finn's backing band.

Lyrical style

Finn is most notable for his third-person

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...

lyrical style, wherein he frequently makes reference to

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, pop culture,

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

, partying,

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, and

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

. Both with Lifter Puller and The Hold Steady, Finn's songs often follow a

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

format that features recurring characters and locations with

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

, Florida, and the Twin Cities having special prominence. Particularly in later Hold Steady albums, Finn's songs have explored the darker aspects of his characters' party-centric lifestyles. Finn told an interviewer in 2012: "Artistically, I have always been really interested in the hangover; not just the celebration and the confetti but also the puke in the gutter." Finn has said that "

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

is certainly not something I want to be accused of," instead hoping to bring "honesty and sincerity" through his songwriting. Although his stories involve violence and heavy drug use, Finn states his songwriting is not very personal or "confessional". Finn's lyrics have been a frequent point of praise for

The Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), Franz Nicolay (keyboards) and Steve Selvidge (g ...

with Uncut Magazine describing his style as "narratives driven less by the wordy exposition of yore than acute observation, devastating detail, by turns exclamatory, epigrammatic and grainily authentic." In a review of ''A Legacy of Rentals'' (2022), veteran critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

describes Finn's albums as an "ongoing series of musical

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

" in which "not everybody loses... but for sure nobody wins", noting the preponderance of protagonists who are very likely nonvoting "all-white casualties of finance capital and the fossil fuel cartel".

Influences

Finn has indicated that some of his greatest lyrical influences include Blake Schwarzenbach from Jets to Brazil and Jawbreaker as well as

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. In a Guardian article he described The Replacements' '' Let It Be'' as his "favorite ever record." He's also a big fan of Rick Danko of

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

. In an interview with GQ, Finn discussed his love for Danko: "People roll their eyes about his solo records, but I'm just happy to have more songs that I can listen to him sing; his voice is incredible... I would listen to him sing the phone book." He is also a fan of

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock music, rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (American musician), Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as ...

Personal life

As of 2016, Finn lived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with his girlfriend; they began dating in 2006.

Discography

Studio albums *'' Clear Heart Full Eyes'' (2012) *'' Faith in the Future'' (2015) *'' We All Want the Same Things'' (2017) *'' I Need a New War'' (2019) *''A Legacy of Rentals'' (2022) *''Always Been'' (2025) Compilations *''All These Perfect Crosses'' (2020)

References

External links

The Hold Steady official websitelftrpllr.com official website
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Craig 1971 births Living people Musicians from Minneapolis Musicians from Shaker Heights, Ohio American indie rock musicians The Hold Steady members Vagrant Records artists Catholics from Ohio People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Musicians from Brooklyn Frenchkiss Records artists Partisan Records artists Thirty Tigers artists Lifter Puller members