Interview With Victor V. Gurbo On Outrun the Invisible Man

I have written the vast majority of articles here at The New Leaf Journal. But I have not written all of the articles. My good friend and colleague Victor V. Gurbo has written and had published many articles in his own right. Most of Victor’s articles have focused on his music career. On October 14, 2025, Victor collaborated with Mark Caserta, who is not only a fellow talented Brooklyn-based musician, but also a member of Victor’s successful band Victor V. Gurbo & Co., to re-release Outrun the Invisible Man, their newest album consisting of a collection of their home recordings. They first released the album with a launch party on February 28, 2025. The re-release comes with two additional songs that Victor and Mark previously released as Tired and Blue. Our long-time readers may be familiar with the home recordings which Victor and Mark publish under The Quarantine Sessions banner and which Victor has covered in some detail here on site.

Victor had explained to me that promotion is difficult these days for an independent musician. His notes about the challenges inherent in securing online coverage caught my attention. After some discussion, we decided it would be a fun and interesting project for me to publish notes from conversations with Victor. Below, I briefly introduce the project before sharing my notes from those conversations about Victor’s newest album, his music career, and song-writing and music generally. This review commemorates the October 14, 2025, re-release of Outrun the Invisible Man.

Relevant Links for Victor V. Gurbo and Outrun the Inivsible Man

Before jumping into the project, disclaimers, and the article about my conversation with Victor, I present the relevant links for anyone interested in learning more about Victor V. Gurbo and his musical projects, including the album which inspired this interview.

• Victor V. Gurbo’s Official Website
• Outrun the Invisible Man Page (includes links for listening to the songs and purchasing the album)
• Victor’s Author Archive on The New Leaf Journal

If you have any professional inquiries for Victor, I recommend using his contact page. You may use our Guestbook to offer any thoughts on site (Victor will see those), including anything you might want Victor to write or talk about in the future.

Project Introduction

Victor and I discussed his album and career using the free and open source Delta Chat messenger app. Our conversations were conducted entirely over text. I copied our discussion into a markdown file and then worked on turning our question and answer sessions into what I hope will be an interesting article. I had Victor review my draft prior to publication so he could ensure that my notes on the album and his sentiments were accurate (he made a few small suggestions, most of which were implemented).

After some internal debates on how to structure the piece, I decided to use my discussion with Victor to inform my work on an article instead of providing a near-verbatim transcript of the interview. This allows me to move things around and structure the article in a way that will flow from one topic to the next. Moreover, I wanted to ensure that I was in the background so that readers can focus on the star of this particular show.

Disclaimer, Statement of Partiality, Clarification, Et Cetera

I have been good friends with Victor for almost 20 years. We first met in high school and I previously wrote about working on the high school newspaper with Victor and later succeeding him as the student editor (Victor was one year above me). We also both went to CUNY Brooklyn College (Victor would be sad if I left out that he was in the Macauley Honors program), but we did not take the same classes.

I submit the foregoing to note that this article reflects a discussion between friends. I knew a good amount about Victor’s career as a musician, although I learned some things from our discussion that I had not known previously. This article should not be construed as a review of Outrun the Invisible Man, for even setting aside impartiality concerns, I am in no way qualified to review a folk music album. (I did once attempt a music review of sorts and I think it reflects my caliber in this area.)

I do not have a financial stake in whether you choose to buy or stream Outrun the Invisible Man, but I enjoyed the album and hope that everyone who takes the time to read this article gives it a listen. It should go without saying that Victor obviously has a professional and financial stake in whether you choose to stream or buy the album or any of its constituent songs. For my part, I also hope that the interview is interesting enough to inspire some people who may be visiting courtesy of knowing and already being fans of Victor to follow The New Leaf Journal, we offer article feeds and a weekly newsletter.

Notes From My Interview With Victor V. Gurbo

Victor and I discussed many topics ranging from the Outrun the Invisible Man project to his career as a musician and thoughts on music. I organized this article into topical sections so readers can jump around at their leisure. I present a miniature top-line table of contents below for your reading convenience:

• Introduction to Victor and His Projects
• Victor Introduces Mark Caserta
• Origin of Outrun the Invisible Man
• Discussing the Album With Victor
• — Original Songs
• — Covers

Introducing Victor V. Gurbo the Musician

Victor V. Gurbo is Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter. He performs vocals and many of his performances feature his acoustic or electric guitar playing along with the harmonica and an assortment of less common string instruments.

Victor is the front-man of Victor V. Gurbo & Co., a band which has been doing shows since 2011 (Victor V. Gurbo & Co currently consists of five members, with two being Victor and Mark Caserta). The other members are Jason Laney (the longest-tenured member after Victor, who is pianist, arrangement manager, and a producer), Kenny Lee (lead guitarist) and Evan Sanyour (drums and percussion).

On finding people to work closely with, Victor said: “I always want to be the weakest link in my own band, everyone else should be able to play circles around me.” This is not to say Victor lacks confidence in his ability to do his music justice, but instead that he looks to surround himself with exceptionally talented musicians who can “fill the gaps” and add something special to his music. We will focus primarily on Victor and Mark in this article, but I highly encourage readers to listen to performances by the of the full band after listening to Outrun the Invisible Man.

Victor V. Gurbo & Co. has notched impressive accomplishments including playing at top NYC venues including, but not limited to, Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Bitter End, The Mercury Lounge, and City Winery, and winning the Brooklyn bracket of WNYC & WQXR’s 2013 Battle of the Boroughs competition at the Greenspace and finishing second overall in the city-wide competition. He is very excited about adding the historic Cafe Wha? (located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village) to that list on November 6, 2025. (Information about all of Victor’s upcoming live shows is available on Victor’s music website.) In addition to his work with his main band, Victor also performs solo and with individuals outside of the central Victor V. Gurbo & Co. project, with Outrun the Invisible Man being a collaboration between Victor and Mark.

Victor describes his work as being “influenced by American folk music and its revival.” Victor’s goal within his particular niche is to “blend Americana with poetry in a way that is both retro and modern.”

Victor on His Musical Interests

I noted in the introduction that Victor was one year ahead of me in high school and college. Far be it from me to divulge his age, but having often dated myself on site, one can venture a fair guess. While I did not talk about music in school, my general impression is that Victor’s fascination with folk music, and specifically Bob Dylan, of whom Victor is, in his own words, a “neurotic devotee,” was not especially common among our peers. Victor explained that he “was raised on Bob Dylan, The Band, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, and Nash,” and more renowned performers from the broader folk and folk-rock tradition from a young age. In a fun anecdote, Victor told me that his father told him that Bob Dylan’s “Congratulations” from The Traveling Wilbury’s Volume 1 was the only thing that would stop a very young Victor’s crying.

Victor said he was never too interested in the most commercially popular music when we were growing up. His lack of interest did not come from a desire to be contrary, but instead because he is most interested in “music with lyrics that tell a story.” Using his favorite Nobel Laureate, Bob Dylan, as an example, Victor explained that the songs he grew up with and loves today are “narrative based” and “rich with references and imagery.” When Victor decided that he was interested in writing and performing his own music, “I began studying the idols of my idols,” going down a rabbit hole of sorts and expanding into taking an interest in myriad figures from the broader tradition, including country music luminaries such as Hank Williams (Victor on covering Hank Williams’ You Win Again), blues icons including Howlin’ Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Lead Belly (Victor on covering Lead Belly’s Goodnight Irene), and many more great artists from the past who continue to inform and inspire contemporary performers.

Victor expanded on his preference for songs that tell stories from the perspective of a songwriter. Victor wants his songs to “do” something, by which he elaborated it should “tell a story or paint a picture.” Regarding the “story,” Victor explains that a good song–in his estimation–need not tell a traditional story, but may achieve its best ends through conveying an emotion and making the audience feel a certain something. To give me an image of what he meant, he offered as an example Tom Waits’ All The World Is Green, quoting one of his favorite sequences from the song: “The face forgives the mirror, the worm forgives the plow / The questions beg the answer, can you forgive me somehow?” Victor noted that this song was written for an unfinished play, but it stands on its own. “There isn’t a clear story” like some classic olden folk songs or ancient Greek myths, but the song nevertheless succeeds in conveying universal sentiments and evoking distinct feelings in the listener.

Victor stated at the beginning of our discussion that he is interested in blending Americana with poetry. I recalled that Victor has written poems before, so I asked him to develop what distinguishes songwriting and performing music from writing and reading poetry. Despite his long-standing interest in folk music, Victor did not originally fixate on being a musician, instead explaining that he had envisioned himself being a writer or physical artist of some sort. He attempted to write a novel in his younger days, but confessed that he did not have the requisite attention span and did not much enjoy the self-editing process. He found that his inclinations and strengths meshed more with songwriting and performing: “One of the great parts of music is that you can reinvent, study, and restructure a piece as you perform it.” Of course, something similar could be said for poetry, which Victor confirmed that he has dabbled in, consistent with my own recollection. However, Victor distinguished putting verse to music from poetry in and of itself by noting that “music adds a layer of presentation that can make or break a poem.” From an audience perspective, Victor suggested, while noting that his point is a general observation rather than a rule of thumb, that music is often perceived as more accessible to “the people” than poetry, which rightly or wrong has more academic connotations.

Victor on Writing Songs and Performing

Six of the songs on Outrun the Invisible Man, like many of the songs in Victor’s regular rotation, are Victor V. Gurbo original works. Victor stated that his songs often grow from an idea in his head. “Usually it starts with a single line” that he hears or reads somewhere, noting that he has found inspiration in myriad sources including, but not limited to, conversations, overhearing things, reading, and other music. Not all ideas turn into stage songs, but “the better ones usually write themselves.” Of course, even those pieces that quickly write themselves and make their way to the stage are not necessarily finished works, recalling that Victor consistently examines, reinterprets, and re-calibrates his original songs.

Victor has refined his craft as a performer over the years and added new tricks to his repertoire. However, Victor opined that “at the end of it, the song is what makes it.” In Victor’s own words: “My primary goal is to know enough of my craft to support and do the song justice.”

For New Leaf Journal readers, I was first interested in the question about how Victor conceives of the end of musical craftsmanship in the context of music as story-telling upon reading Victor’s 2021 essay defending the vocal stylings of Bob Dylan. In that piece, Victor responded to critics who question Bob Dylan’s ability on vocals by praising Dylan’s “rock-solid” delivery and credited him for “produc[ing] singular versions of his songs because his remarkable ability to deliver complex ideas and emotions.”

Victor on Mark Caserta

After Victor introduced himself and his background as a musician, we turned our attention to his collaborator on Outrun the Invisible Man, the talented Mark Caserta. Of course, the introduction to Mark requires us to first talk a little bit more about Victor.

Victor the Luthier

The story of how Victor met Mark turns not on Victor the musician, but Victor the luthier. Victor not only plays guitars, but also builds them, as he wrote about here on site in Building an Airline Res-O-Glas Guitar Copy and Building a Big Joe Williams-Inspired Nine String Guitar. (I also hear that Victor moonlights as an umbrella modder but that is neither here nor there.)

Victor has been building guitars since 2013 (see his Airline Res-O-Glas article for the full story) and still builds today and prefers to bring his own hand-crafted guitars on stage. He credits his experience building guitars with increasing his understanding of guitars as a musician.

Victor Works With Mark Caserta

“I met Mark in 2017 in the place where all good things happen.”

Where is that place you might ask?

“Craigslist.”

Victor was building guitars prolifically in 2017, often swapping his original instruments for other guitars. Victor saw that a certain Mark Caserta had a vintage Danelctro U-1 guitar for sale on Craigslist. Victor sent a message, offering a custom guitar in exchange for Mark’s instrument. That message led to a meeting and they completed the guitar exchange. Victor noted that Mark, who he was surprised to learn lived nearby, was very nice, but it should be said that most of Victor’s guitar exchanges do not lead to new albums.

Victor and Mark stayed in touch and sometimes saw each other around the neighborhood. Mark was performing with a different musician at the time. Victor gave Mark and his collaborator a spot on his bill on a couple of occasions.

In 2020, Victor was quarantining with his family: “Something happened, I forget what,” said Victor of protective mask review fame. Mark sent Victor a message, stating that he was bored at home and his other projects were stalled by the ongoing pandemic. Mark asked Victor to send a song he could play along with to ameliorate his boredom. Victor was initially hesitant, having noted that he did not yet know Mark well and also that he was used to working with the then-extant members of his band. Fortunately, Victor overcame this initial hesitancy based on his positive, albeit then limited, interactions with Mark.

That one message from Mark led to The Quarantine Sessions project which Victor wrote about contemporaneously and subsequently regularly in our humble pages. The first song Victor selected was the classic folk song Frankie and Albert, which he wrote about and shared here back on May 3, 2020. After working on additional classic folk songs such as Love Henry and The Railroad Boy, Victor shared some of his original songs, (see for example Christmas & You).

Victor and Mark enjoyed performing together and developed a workflow as they got a feel for one another. For his part, Victor started to choose songs that he felt suited Mark’s strengths. As their collaboration grew, Victor found that working with Mark helped him enrich his own musical library. Victor started “restructuring” some of his older songs for the better based on how Mark would approach them. Moreover, Victor was inspired to write several songs based on his working with Mark, most notably Ghost Woman Blues, which he covered here on site and included in Outrun the Invisible Man. Victor also came across some new songs thanks to Mark, chief among them for our instant purposes Fugazi’s I’m So Tired, which Victor discussed covering with Mark and included in Outrun the Invisible Man.

It should go without saying that their collaboration has long outlived the circumstances which prompted it in April 2020 with Victor and Mark having completed more than 100 home recordings (Victor has only covered a small number of The Quarantine Sessions on The New Leaf Journal). Moreover, as I noted at the top, Mark is now a full member of Victor V. Gurbo & Co. Victor had suggested to Mark based on their work together on the Quarantine Sessions that he would have first dibs on a spot in Victor V. Gurbo in Co were a position to become available. Victor’s previous bassist, a great bassist by the name of Larry Johnson of House of Fiction, departed Victor’s main project, opening a position for Mark. While Mark’s main instrument is the guitar, he was more than expert enough on bass guitar to step into that position in Victor V. Gurbo & Co., although Mark’s profile on the band’s official website highlights that he also contributes on guitar, mandolin, ukulele, organ, and as a sound engineer and producer.

Beyond Mark’s craft and skill, Victor respects Mark’s approach to music, which readers will find familiar now having read about Victor’s philosophy as a performer. Victor explained that while Mark is an expert guitarist and proficient in many other instruments and music production, he has articulated that the most important thing to him as a musician is to properly serve whatever song he is performing, which Victor, from his perspective as a singer-songwriter, describes as an “amazing approach in a collaborator.” While some musicians run the risk of getting too lost in their instrument at the expense of doing what is best for the song, Victor notes that Mark has on occasion and on his own initiative suggested that one of his own instrumental sections should be cut when he believes that the song does not benefit from it.

The Origin of Outrun the Invisible Man

Having now competently introduced the dramatic personae of Outrun the Invisible Man, we can turn to the new album itself, without which this article would not have been published.

Before deciding to put together Outrun the Invisible Man Victor and Mark submitted their cover of Irving Berlin’s A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody to WNYC’s Public Song Project contest, which challenged musicians to cover and reinterpret songs which had recently entered the public domain. They recorded the song in a minor key, giving a different feel to what was originally an “upbeat” composition. Victor’s and Mark’s submission did not win, but Victor wanted me to note that Kathryn Lewis, who features on vocals in the Outrun the Invisible Man’s version of A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (to be covered further down), had her contest submission of The Ice Cream Song selected as one of the three winning submissions. But Victor and Mark won a consolation prize of sorts when the WNYC version of A Pretty Girl Like a Melody was played and discussed on Paul Cavalconte’s New Standards radio show. Victor and Mark considered that if their home recording was good enough for radio, it was surely good enough for distribution on streaming platforms (Victor credits Mark for pushing him to take the plunge). With that, they not only posted A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, but undertook revisiting and remastering many of the pieces they had previously record.

The Album Creation Process

Victor offered an example of how he and Mark refined their home recordings for Outrun the Invisible Man: “We might preserve a track or two from the original recording, but, say, I’d re-do the vocals because I’d performed them live as one track on my iPhone, or Mark would re-do something because his equipment was faulty.” Victor described his set-up as “pretty primitive” and cautioned in the area of recording, as he did regarding playing, against putting anything about music production ahead of serving the song well.

Victor credited the current state of technology with making it possible for people without access to big music studios to refine their works until it approximates the big players. With that being said, Victor acknowledges that a professional listening to Outrun the Invisible Man would “have things to say.” But is that a bad thing? Victor thinks not, at least for this project. Victor made clear that he is not opposed to studio-produced albums, he has already released one such album and is working on a new studio album of acoustic material. But Outrun the Invisible Man is a different project, the result of Victor realizing, through his multi-year home-recording collaboration with Mark, that he “could experiment with these songs” and compile them into a sort of homespun release.

I asked Victor if the project was in line with the ethos of the folk tradition he studies and partakes in, and he concurred: “There’s a bit of a raw quality to folk and early blues and country music.” While production is important, it does not complete the circuit: “Pop music is usually about the production, but the type of music I’m going for isn’t about that–the recorded song is just a snapshot of a performance.” Victor appreciates the “imperfections” in his album and hopes listeners do to: “By presenting the material like this I get to give listeners a captured performance that feels real, because it is real.”

I asked Victor for some additional context about his and Mark’s workflow, both for interested readers and some musicians out there who may find themselves inspired by the Outrun the Invisible Man concept. Victor said that most of the songs were mixed in Garage Band, which he explained to your Linux-using author is an Apple app. He sang into a USB microphone (the Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Microphone for curious musicians out there). Mark played the leading role of mixing and refining the songs.

I asked Victor about the name of the album and was surprised to learn that he did not “quite know where the title originally came from,” although he noted that it matches the emotional tone of the album. Victor also opined that the title goes well with the cover art-work, which, along with the photograph on the record jacket and promotional photos, comes courtesy of Victor’s father, the distinguished Robert Gurbo. Victor noted humorously that Phil Maq of WHFR radio, who offered a positive review of the album, mused on air that the name was symbolic of trying to escape COVID. Victor and Mark liked that take, and they now go with saying that this is how they drew it up. Alas, I could not let partiality get the best of me, so I had no choice but to reveal Victor’s ambiguity about the origin of the item title.

[Outrun the Invisible Man] is a nice collection of songs. There are some standards covered on the album, and then songs like I Missed You All The Same that were written by Victor—and that’s even cooler, when you can’t tell the difference between the classics and the new classics.

Phil Maq discussing the album on WHFR radio

While Victor was equivocal on why he chose the name that he did, he was decisive on why he did not name the album after one of its tracks: “I don’t care for album times named after one of the tracks because it directs people unnecessarily regarding the most important song.” I joked that this was why the album is not called Little Molly Moon (or perhaps Little Molly Record?), but as we will discuss in short order, Victor’s favorite track from the album is Dreaming and Dancing.

Outrun the Invisible Man Track Selection and Organization

The October 14, 2025 re-release of Outrun the Invisible Man record consists of 12 tracks on two sides with six tracks each (the original release consisted of 10 songs). Six of the songs were written by Victor and six are covers. I present the full list below with the songs written by Victor in bold.

Side A: (1) Red Cadillac & A Black Moustache (cover); (2) Dreaming and Dancing; (3) Ghost Woman Blues; (4) Little Molly Moon; (5) I Missed You All The Same; (6) I’m So Tired

Side B: (7) Mr. Blue; (8) A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody; (9) The Party After You Left; (10) Moon On A String; (11) Mack The Knife; (12) Everyday

The songs on ‘Outrun the Invisible Man’ explore themes of nostalgia, love, loss, and isolation. While these emotions were inspired by the pandemic experience, they are universal and timeless—qualities that the music aims to embody.

Official album description (see website)

I asked Victor about the track order, assuming from my admittedly layman’s perspective that there must have been some rhyme or reason governing the selection. Victor confirmed that he did put thought into the order and that he and Mark worked together to come up with a selection which created a sort of “emotional arc.” Regarding the order, Victor said that he knew from the beginning that he wanted the album to begin with their cover of Red Cadillac & A Black Moustache by Lillian May and Willie Bea Thompson and conclude with Buddy Holly’s and Norman Petty’s Everyday. He also wanted his own Dreaming & Dancing high in the order because Victor considers it the strongest song on the record (it sits in position two), although he noted that Little Molly Moon and I Miss You All The Same have received more radio air time.

In the interest of ensuring that prospective readers are duly informed from reading my report on Victor, I asked him how strongly he recommends following the order. “I suggest listening for the first time in track order, but after that you can disagree with me and listen in whatever order you want.”

As I noted at the top of the article, the October 14, 2025 release of Outrun the Invisible Man is a re-release. Victor and Mark hosted first launched Outrun the Invisible Man at City Lore on February 28, 2025. That event marked the availability of 100 vinyl records and 100 CDs. The first run was successful and Victor and Mark had more places they wanted to contact after the first run. The re-release comes with a second run of 150 records (I have record 1 of 150, not to brag). In order to make it a true re-release, Victor and Mark re-posted the tracks on various streaming services and Victor and I worked on this article to commemorate the second run of Outrun the Invisible Man.

Discussing the Outrun the Invisible Man Recordings With Victor

I reminded Victor that he wrote the following in his 2021 article on his recording of his original song Mondrian (Mondrian is not part of the new album):

As a general rule, I disfavor musicians explaining their own work. I also do not like receiving direction from another as to how I should understand a piece of art. I believe songs and other works of art should stand on their own without ancillary explanations or commentary. Attempts to explain a work often takes away from the work itself. If the piece is successful, you should be able to enjoy it and see yourself within it – and in the event that I learn that an artist’s goal was vastly different than how I connected with it, I can become disconnected from the piece. It takes away some of the magic for me.

Victor V. Gurbo in his NLJ article

Fortunately, Victor was more than willing to talk to me about the songs in this case.

Victor and I discussed his six original songs from the Outrun the Invisible Man list in some detail. He provided me with notes on the six covers. For this reason, I will deviate from his carefully-curated order and discuss the original compositions separate from the covers.

For those who plan to listen to the album, I am inclined (and I suspect Victor is similarly inclined) to recommend listening to the album–or at least the individual tracks–first and reading the following commentary second. All of the tracks are available on various platforms and services, which can be found from the official Outrun the Invisible Man page on Victor’s music website. Our discussion is primarily intended to supplement the songs and recordings with Victor’s commentary.

The Original Compositions On Outrun the Invisible Man

I discussed with Victor his six original songs from Outrun the Invisible Man in the order they are listed in the album.

Dreaming & Dancing

The music and lyrics of Dreaming and Dancing were composed by Victor. Victor is on vocals and electric guitar while Mark is on lead electric guitar and bass. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

(Before we discuss the song, Victor sent me a link to an advertisement video he ran on Facebook featuring a snippet of Dreaming & Dancing. The video features talented fellow musician Petra Jasmiina and artist and illustrator Robyn Tang in acting roles. Note that this is not the full song from the album.)

Victor confirmed that Dreaming & Dancing is, at its core, a song about someone dancing with a new partner while thinking about a past love. In the second verse, the new woman makes a few cultural references, notably claiming that “she knows De Niro” and claims to “drink[] with the band.” While I thought Victor’s intention to make the present woman a bit of a braggart was obvious, he added some additional context in our discussion. “Name dropping a celebrity, something that has no impact on anything, and also drinking with the band, being in a band sort of takes away the magical aura of hanging out with musicians.” While I confess that I would probably not be impressed by someone bragging about drinking with a band in light of the fact that I do not drink and do not know many bands outside of Victor V. Gurbo & Co., I could not approach the bragging from the perspective of a musician who is actually in a band.

Victor noted that the woman appears to be oblivious of the fact that the man she is dancing with is looking through her, thinking about a woman from his past, but he did not dismiss out of hand my suggestion that perhaps her ineffective attempts at impressing him stem from her recognizing that he is not looking at her. “She isn’t a bad date per se, she’s just not the person the narrator wants to be with.” In the end, it is evident from the lyrics that there is nothing she could do or say on this date to change that fact.

I asked Victor about the “clean” line in the penultimate verse where the narrator recalls his past love, and Victor confirmed that the significance of his word choice: “The clean line is important, especially if you read it as a physical relationship.”

Regarding the music itself, Victor gave all due credit to Mark for his expert mixing. While Victor himself listens to most things in mono, but “Mark knows where to put things” in mixing.

I suggested to Victor that the reason the De Niro fan in his song had no chance was because the narrator was dancing with a ghost. Speaking of ghosts…

Ghost Woman Blues

The music and lyrics of Ghost Woman Blues were composed by Victor. Victor is on vocals, acoustic guitar, and organ while Mark is on lead electric guitar theremin (talk about a unique choice), and bass. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

Victor published a Quarantine Sessions article on his and Mark’s earlier recording of Ghost Woman Blues back when he called it Ghost Woman Blues 2. While Ghost Woman Blues is a Victor V. Gurbo original, he originally added the “2” to the title to distinguish it from an unrelated Ghost Woman Blues. However, after determining that no one would likely be confused, he dropped the “2” from the title.

Victor told me that the song was inspired by Mike Flanigan’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor TV series. He told me what about these two horror shows gave him the idea for a song:

These were psychological horror shows. All the characters were going through very rough emotional trauma concerning coping with loss. There were ghosts, but it was unclear which ghost were real.

Victor V. Gurbo

Victor did not go into as much detail as in his original article, but he referred to one line he found striking: “A ghost can be many things.” Taking everything together, he had a song concept and the perfect collaborator to put his lyrics to music.

I asked Victor about some lines and verses I found interesting. He noted that “Choctow Ridge” is a reference to Bobby Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe. One point I found very mildly ambiguous was whether the protagonist was haunted by a failed relationship or the death of a partner, but Victor confirmed my hunch that the former is correct. Victor noted the thematic similarities between the view-point character here and in Dreaming and Dancing: “Living with the ghost isn’t really living.”

Victor had told me earlier in our discussion, as I reported supra, that he wrote Ghost Woman Blues with Mark’s playing in mind. Here, he revealed that he wanted Mark to use the theremin here (a short theremin primer for the uninitiated). For whatever it is worth, I think the theremin added a very nice eerie vibe to the song.

(Speaking of horror, the version Victor included with his earlier New Leaf Journal post included screaming and ghost noises, but he explained they had to be removed due to the fact that the license on those sounds does not permit monetization. Fortunately, I agree with Victor that the song works just fine without the extra effects.)

Little Molly Moon

The music and lyrics of Ghost Woman Blues were composed by Victor. Victor is on vocals and a trio of string instruments (acoustic guitar, banjo, and mandolin) while Mark handled the lead electric guitar. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

Victor summarized the radio favorite from the bunch, Little Molly Moon, as being “all about unrequited love.” The song is perhaps less dramatic than the previous two we covered. By its own terms, it sounds as if Ms. Molly Moon was never interested in the view-point character, and the song offers no reason for why this was the case. Victor left it up to listeners to decide based on the account of our less-than-reliable narrator whether Molly let him down easily or simply did not care about him at all. Of course, the view-point character did care very much for Molly, which is “why the song exists.” Victor explained succinctly: “If you’re writing a song about someone, you care enough to write the song.”

I specifically asked Victor about one sequence from the third verse: “Beneath cardboard clouds we made our vows / My little Molly and me,” and Victor helpfully explained that he intended to evoke something like a movie set or stage to establish that the protagonist was describing something disingenuous or fantastic instead of accurately narrating past events. But always careful to avoid misunderstandings, Victor said that one need not understand everything the view-point character describes under than Molly’s rejection as fantasy. “Clearly the intensity of the relationship was fantasy,” but it is entirely possible, Victor allows, that there was something to the relationship.

In terms of feel, Victor wanted the song to be “lullaby-esque” and resisted portraying the view-point character as creepy.

I Missed You All The Same

The music and the lyrics of I Missed You All The Same were composed by Victor. Victor is on vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and harmonica. Mark is on lead acoustic guitar. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

Victor shared with me the origin story of I Missed You All The Same. The story is too good to paraphrase, so I present it to you as Victor presented it to me:

I was walking home from work in Manhattan. I had been stuck inside all day and needed to move my body. Walked past a bar at about 5-ish, maybe even earlier. A young woman stumbled out of the bar, three sheets to the wind. She pulled out her cell phone, dialed, and the first thing out of her mouth was ‘I wasn’t lonely but I missed you all the same.’

Victor V. Gurbo

Having written enough articles about things overheard on the street in New York City to have a taxonomy category for them, I greatly appreciated this story. Alas, I tend to focus on things that do comic violence to the English language. Victor overhears more poetic things, although I fear this young lady may have been doing some violence to her liver in the daylight hours. But I digress as I am wont.

Victor employed an interesting technique to prepare for his vocal performance: “I wanted it to sound tired and broken so I recorded it very late at night.” Victor previously related how he once took advantage of his insomnia to learn about a famous blues musician on social media, but I dare say this was a healthier and more productive use of the late night and/or early morning hours. In response to my noting he sang deeper for this song than most of the other recordings on the record, Victor stated that he will have to “move it higher when we do it live in order for the audience to be able to hear at some venues.”

Thematically, Victor described it as a song that lies to itself. Victor noted that one of his favorite songs of this type is Bob Dylan’s “masterpiece,” Most Of The Time, which was part of his Oh Mercy album. In I Missed You All The Same, the narrator’s insistence that he no longer cares for a past love come off as intentionally unconvincing.

The Party After You Left

The music and the lyrics of The Party After You Left were composed by Victor. Victor is on vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, and organ. Mark is on electric guitar and bass. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

Proving why I stick to prose instead of musical poetry, I somewhat missed the mark on Victor’s intention with The Party After You Left on first listen. Victor recommends contemplating the song first before reading his author analysis.

Victor was inspired to write The Party After You Left while going through old family documents and possessions. He was struck by how many people in his family — particularly the women — dramatically outlived their spouses. With that prompt in mind, Victor used a “party” as a motif for living on without your partner–perhaps without truly being able to live. In theory, the song can be read literally, as in a party becoming dull after someone you connect with leaves, but Victor’s intent was weightier.

Well before the Outrun the Invisible Man project, Victor collaborated with Petra Jasmiina and her Petrafied Productions company to turn The Party After You Left into a music video. Victor explained that Petra immediately grasped his intent with the song, but thought it would be clever to make the music video an actual party. You can watch the music video—which I again note is separate from the Outrun the Invisible Man release—on YouTube (if I were called upon to play Mark’s role in the video, I would not have been able to move for a week–so credit to him).

Moon On A String

Moon On A String is unique among the six original songs in Outrun the Invisible Man in that it was co-written. Victor wrote the lyrics while Mark wrote the music, making this a shining example of their collaborative efforts. In the case of the other original songs, Victor wrote the music and lyrics while Mark wrote his own instrumental parts. In the case of Moon On A String, Victor said “I composed it and asked Mark for his ideas on a B section, a bridge.” Mark sent Victor his idea for the chord change that made it into the final release. Victor handled the vocals and acoustic guitar while Mark was on lead acoustic guitar, mandolin, and bass. You can read the lyrics here on Musixmatch (archived).

Victor noted that this song stands out musically from the other originals on the album and made special note of Mark’s mandolin playing in the song. When they perform Moon On A String live, Victor uses an Suzuki Omnichord OM-108 synthesizer and Mark uses a guitar effect to make it sound like double strings.

Regarding the content, Victor described his work as a “fairly direct unrequited love song” noting that while the narrative was “not multi-dimensional, not every song has to be.” Succinctly put, “sometimes a lamp is a lamp.” While the theme of unrequited love is similar to Little Molly Moon, Victor agreed with my initial impression that the narrator in Molly Moon “is more lighthearted” than the focus figure in Moon On A String

The Six Covers On Outrun the Invisible Man

Outrun The Invisible Man includes six covers of classic songs, all in line with the broader themes of the album. Victor opted to provide me with some short write-ups on the six covers with notes about why he and Mark chose to include them, how they were interpreted, and additional collaborators. I read his commentary and abridged it for inclusion in the article. The covers are presented below in the order they appear in the album. I again note that you can listen to all of the tracks on various platforms and services linked from Victor’s webpage for the album.

Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache

Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache was written by Lillian May and Willie Bea Thompson. Victor was first exposed to the song by Bob Dylan. “When an artist the caliber of Bob Dylan directs you to listen to a song, you listen.” The album-version arrangement is by both Victor and Mark. Victor was on vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and banjo, while Mark was on lead electric guitar and bass.

Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache was originally written by May and Thompson, but Victor explains that artist Warren Smith’s popularized the song in 1957. Victor noted that the song is anchored in a specific place and time, with grounded reference to Cadillac cars and cabarets. But what appeals to Victor is that its themes are timeless: “Who you been loving since I’ve been gone?”

Victor and Mark joke about how Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache is the most modern song they regularly play in live shows. While others rush to cover the newest releases by Taylor Swift or other contemporary artists, Victor and Mark tend to look back further – sometimes much further.

I’m So Tired

Victor previously wrote about covering I’m So Tired with Mark in a New Leaf Journal article, so I will direct you to the relevant section of that article for the basic background of the song instead of re-inventing the wheel. This track, along with Mr. Blue (next in the order) was added to Outrun the Invisible Man in the October 2025 re-release. In the recording, Victor is on vocals and harmonica while Mark is on guitar, bass, and percussion. This is the first article in the album featuring an additional collaborator, with the exceptionally talented Michelle Siracusa contributing vocals and piano.

Victor described this recording as “Mark’s brain child.” As he explained in his article last year, he had never listened to Fugazi before Mark introduced him. Mark suggested that it would be “hilarious” if he and Victor worked on a very “us” version of I’m So Tired, which was released in 1999. Not one to be all talk and no action, Mark took the initiative and arranged his distinctly “Victor and Mark” version of the song. Once Victor found his footing, he came to like the song and its themes, “the palpable feeling of loneliness and exhaustion fit right in a pandemic-themed record.” Victor noted that he and Mark felt that the sudden inclusion of a 1999 song in an album of covers of much older songs and Victor’s original folk compositions gives the album an unexpected twist.

Victor and Mark decided that their version of I’m So Tired was lacking something. Consistent with their ethos of doing their utmost to do the song justice, Mark invited Michelle Siracusa to collaborate. Victor notes that Michelle, who previously worked with Mark for years prior to 2020, is multi-talented, working as a singer and actress. Mark sent her what he and Victor had “and she returned it with some beautiful accompanying vocals and piano.” Victor credits Michelle with completing the song.

Mr. Blue

Victor also introduced Mr. Blue along with I’m So Tired in an article about his work last year, so I will refer you to the relevant section of that article for the general introduction. Victor and Mark collaborated on the arrangement. Victor was on vocals, acoustic guitar, and organ while Mark was on lead acoustic guitar, bass, and xylophone (first the theremin, now a xylophone – let no one say he is not a musician of many instruments and talents). Michelle Siracusa again contributed her stellar vocals and piano.

Victor was first introduced to Mr. Blue by Bob Dylan, who performed it regularly on his 2024 tour with Willie Nelson. As we know, when Bob Dylan tells Victor to listen to something, Victor listens. Victor enjoyed the song and thought that it fit right in with the rest of the album, so he worked with Mark to create a suitable cover. Victor and Mark thought that Michelle Siracusa’s contributions would elevate the recording, and she was happy to contribute again. Victor describes this as “the cover I’m most proud of” from the album.

A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody

The music and lyrics of A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody are by Irving Berlin. Victor and Mark worked together on the arrangement for the album. Victor was on vocals and acoustic guitar while Mark was on lead acoustic guitar and bass. For this recording, Victor and Mark invited the talented Kathryn Lewis, who provided backup vocals.

Victor explained earlier in our interview that Outrun the Invisible Man started in no small part because of the favorable reception their cover of A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody received after being submitted to WYNC’s Public Song Project. The project, which Victor previously noted tasked singers with exploring and reinterpreting material that had just entered the public domain, prompted Victor to cover A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody. As he explained earlier, he and Mark decided to convert the song into a minor key to change the tone of the song into something entirely different than what had been originally intended.

After rearranging the song, Victor thought it would benefit from having a woman on vocals. He turned to Kathryn Lewis, who he met through an online show called Live Muzic Mondayz (and whose own submission was chosen as a winner in the WNYC event). Victor chose well, noting that “she certainly understood the assignment.”

After the recording, Victor found sheet music for A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody in his family archives. “I find it amusing that one of my relatives more likely than not covered this song as well.”

Mack The Knife

The lyrics of Mack The Knife were written by Bertolt Brecht and the music by Kurt Weill. It was originally released for in 1928 for The Threepenny Opera. Victor notes that the song was subsequently popularized by Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong.

Victor explains that “this song was our second attempt at the Public Song Project” after A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody. Similarly to the former, Victor worked with Mark to arrange the song, which is about a murder, into a minor key, giving it an appropriately ominous feel. Once again, Victor and Mark invited a collaborator to embellish the song. Victor was on vocals and organ, Mark on electric guitar, xylophone, and bass, and collaborator Katie Chambers contributed her expert cello playing. Regarding Katie’s contributions, Victor said that “it really makes the song what it is.”

Everyday

The music and lyrics of Everyday are by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty. The arrangement of the Outrun the Invisible Man cover is a collaborative effort between Victor and Mark. In the recording, Victor is on vocals, acoustic guitar, and banjo while Mark is on lead electric guitar, keyboard, and bass.

Victor explained that his interpretation of the song was influenced by the ultimately tragic story of Buddy Holly, who passed away at the age of 22 along with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) in a 1959 plane crash. Victor notes that Buddy Holly’s original Everyday is fast, but he and Mark gave it a bittersweet interpretation by performing it a bit slower. Victor determined from the beginning that he wanted Everyday at the end of the album because it was comparatively “positive” in contrast to most of the selections, but knowing that Buddy Holly’s life was cut far too short gives his work an inescapable tinge of sadness.

Conclusion

While I have known Victor for 20 years and been privy to developments in his music career, I learned many things from our lengthy discussions about his song and the background of the album. I hope that you found my notes on our discussion interesting as well and that it inspired you to try the album and dig into Victor’s and Mark’s library.

Victor has told me that he plans to write a bit more about the release and the challenges of promoting a new album, so I hope you look forward to reading about that along with me. I would part with happy listening, but something to the effect of wistful or melancholic listening may be more fitting given the general tone of Victor’s and Mark’s musical selection for their excellent new album.