DECORAH-- It's a beautiful evening for outdoor music, right? Join Ames-based musician Paul Doffing this evening for brilliant acoustic guitar and vocals at Decorah's own Arthaus. Feel free to bring your own beer or wine and relax in the June breeze, within space's downtown outdoor courtyard at 508 West Water Street.

While Doffing's music is fantastic and heartfelt, his story is even more captivating. In 2012 alone, this talented young singer-songwriter took a five month, 5,000 mile musical tour of the U.S., lighting up communities and press outlets along the way. Having recently released the new studio album "Paul Doffing", Paul's taking his Neil-young reminiscent sound on the road again, with the 2014 chapter of his Freedom From Fuel Tour, with Midwestern dates from May through July in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Doffing's approach to music and sustainability seem to mingle together interchangeably, emphasizing treading lightly and doing what's right. The bicycle is both a nod to his daily habits and values, and a desire to promote a sustainable future vis-a-vis independence from fossil fuels. According to Doffing's own website, part of why he's doing it is that "I noticed on this tour that being in a car, or a house even, having shelter from the elements cuts you off from the fragility of humanity." Doffing's introspective approach to substance and soul will take you on a journey that winds through our fractured nation and will find it's way into your heart. Doffing is a voice of conscience, one that urges us to come together as a collective culture and do what's right. "We can’t really rely on governments to solve this—they don’t have the same interest that we do. The government isn’t thinking about grand- children, but I hope that we are. I know I do."

Interested in more? Follow Doffing on Facebook & Twitter.

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.