California alternative rock singer Dustin Kensrue lives and breathes music in all of its forms, whether it be through his role as lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Thrice or through his various solo projects.
Fans will be able to see this passion as he combines Thrice songs, solo tracks and covers during live performances. He performed March 28 at the Varsity Theatre and will be performing March 30 in Houston at White Oak Music Hall.
Kensrue released his most recent solo album, “Thoughts that Float on a Different Blood,” in 2015.
The album consists of song covers ranging from Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” to Radiohead’s “Creep.”
While Kensrue has been playing covers for a while, he said he decided to make a live acoustic cover album — which he admits may not sound like the best idea on paper — because people kept “bugging him for copies of them.”
He began pursuing solo works for similar reasons.
“I would write [different songs], and they didn’t feel like they made sense with Thrice at the time, but I still liked them and would play them around,” Kensrue said.
Eventually, he said enough people started asking him to write more, so he did.
Another aspect of performing solo that appealed to him was the ability to perform in an acoustic, stripped down setting.
“[There’s a] very different vibe at a live show when there’s nothing else really going on — no other distractions — and I can really control the dynamics. Both during the songs and in between,” Kensrue said.
While the songs covered on the album vary greatly, Kensrue said they were all ones he felt he could work with dynamically, with just him and his guitar.
“[I was] looking for something that I could really push in a different direction and that could be interesting and exciting in a stripped-down format,” he said.
The album’s title, “Thoughts that Float on a Different Blood,” comes from C.S. Lewis’s “The Space Trilogy.”
“They’re discussing [in the books] how humans don’t have any way to hear thoughts that they say float on a different blood,” Kensrue said.
Covering songs, he said, is a way for him to “embody [the song] and breathe and experience these thoughts that come from someone else and take them upon [himself].”
Kensrue said that while he listens to all sorts of music, his favorite current artists include Radiohead and The National.
He also recommends Tom Waits, whose music he’s currently making a playlist of, in hopes of encouraging people to give it a listen.
This will be a busy year for Kensrue as, along with touring, he is also writing for Thrice’s new record and working on a project with his brother.
“It’s not yet titled, but it’s a little more electronic, indie pop oriented, so that should be fun,” he said of the project.
Kensrue said that while making music, he is focusing less and less on others’ perceptions of it.
“I really just try to do my best work,” he said. “I feel like the less I’m trying to have some specific outcome, the better.”
The show will begin Thursday night at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on the venue’s website.