Franz Nicolay is that multi-instrumentalist and man-about-town, peddling a modern vaudeville with full-throated songs and stories shamelessly strident, stentorian and more than a little sentimental. He's been a member of cabaret-punk circus World/Inferno Friendship Society, world's best bar band the Hold Steady, gypsy-klezmer carnies Guignol, outlaw orchestra Anti-Social Music, and agit-punks Against Me!; and performed or recorded with everyone from Leftover Crack to Bruce Springsteen. His first story collection, "Complicated Gardening Techniques," was published by Julius Singer Press in 2009.