Big Lies, Butterflies, & Brutal Tyrants - Marc Nerenberg in Live Public Performance - 18 April 2025

This is a song I first wrote right after Russia invaded Ukraine during the pandemic. At the time, I posted a home recording only, inasmuch as we weren’t doing any public performances then. I decided recently that it was time to bring this song in front of a live audience, especially in light of the fact that we are now living through unexpectedly worse times in terms of the geopolitical situation. I soon found myself revising it extensively to suit the current harsher realities.
I tried to record a good live video a few times, but on the first occasion I was not yet familiar enough with my revisions (which were not yet complete, as it turned out). And on the second occasion, I simply forgot to push the record button on my camera. But, as the expression says, “Third time’s a charm!”. I finally managed to capture what I was looking for the third time I tried! And here it is, recorded live at Montreal’s Yellow Door Hootenanny on 18 April 2025.
I’m playing a 1910 Fairbanks banjo here, with Nylgut strings, tuned in a Dm9 tuning. My playing consists of a combination of thumb-lead two-finger picking and clawhammer style techniques.