Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in the Hudson Valley. In addition to records under his own name—most recently 2015’s To Us, The Beautiful!—he has been a member of the Hold Steady and World/Inferno Friendship Society, and recorded or performed with dozens of other acts. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control, was named a “Season’s Best Travel Book” by The New York Times. His second book, the novel Someone Should Pay For Your Pain, was called “a knockout fiction debut” by Buzzfeed; and was named one of Rolling Stone “Best Music Books of 2021” (“finally, the great indie-rock novel”).