Matt Nathanson was raised on music from the ’70s and ’80s and it’s apparent in his live shows. The self-proclaimed “every girls’ best friend” has the mouth of a sailor when it comes to telling stories and jokes and seconds later can make a crowd sing along to Prince or shed a tear.

The singer/songwriter graduated from Pitzer College in 1995 with an English degree, hit the stage with his 12-string guitar and heartfelt songs and never looked back.

The San Francisco-by-way-of-Boston troubadour will take the stage at the House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn, Chicago, tonight alongside Matt Wertz and Kate Earl.

Nathanson recently talked to the Northern Star about touring, his new songs and his college experience.

Northern Star: You’re really punctual. You called right at 11 a.m.

Matt Nathanson: Yeah, right at 11 a.m. – the wrong 11 a.m. I called you directly at 11 a.m., which should have been noon. I was punctual but early by an hour. I’m 364 days off. A full year and 23 hours off.

NS: You ready to do this?

MN: Let’s do it.

NS: Where are you now and what can you see?

MN: I’m in Ann Arbor, Mich. and I can see a bunch of hotels. It’s like a hotel strip mall. There’s a Sheridan, a Fairfield Inn, a Courtyard and a Wendy’s.

NS: How’s the tour going?

MN: It’s been going great. The shows have been selling out in the Northeast and the Midwest and more people have been coming and the band has been playing better than ever and it’s more non-stop than usual. I feel like we’re musical ninjas; swinging into town, executing people and then leaving. We’ve been getting super-good connections with the audiences and it’s better than ever.

NS: How’s the full band going? Is there still animosity from the audience like there was when you first started going out with a full band?

MN: If they’re not digging it, they’re not telling me. We still play acoustic stuff and we still break it down and it’s really good. I don’t want to play solo all the time because it’s so limiting dynamically. To finally have a band like this where we’re dialed in such a way, it’s just so crazy.

NS: How have people been responding to the new songs?

MN: People have been responding really well. There’s not even lyrics done so that’s great. That and we’ve got a bunch of other songs we haven’t even played yet because lyrics are so very undone on those. I think it’s going to be great. We’re going to finish these songs recording-wise sometime in December and then go back in sometime in January or February and finish another four or five and then put the record out and then go out on tour. It’ll be great. Maybe because the energy in those songs is different because we haven’t played them and we’re excited and that excitement translates into a live situation real well.

NS: How did your live album you recorded back in May turn out?

MN: It came out really great but I haven’t listened to the new mixes because to motivate myself to listen to me solo acoustic – it’s very difficult to be excited and be like, “I can’t wait to listen to the new me.” The last time I heard it all the way through, I loved it. Then we did a little bit of remix and added a couple things and it’s been really good.

NS: How are you going to deal with all the licensing issues seeing as you tend to cover a lot of songs, like “Such Great Heights,” in any given show?

MN: The good news about The Postal Service licensing is that I’m friends with all those guys and my manager manages them, so that’s going to be easy. But everything else will just kind of work itself out. I think people don’t mind getting paid.

NS: You once said Prince doesn’t like people covering his songs and you play “Starfish and Coffee” just about every night.

MN: Yeah, but I don’t think he’s ever been a fan of not getting paid.

NS: What was it like going to college in 1995 without things like cell phones, Myspace and Instant Messenger?

MN: We used the abacus as well for math. I don’t even know what it’s like now. It’s just a different type of community and everything always changes like that. I think more about what it was like to tour back then without cell phones.

NS: What was it like to tour without a cell phone?

MN: Way back in the day. It was only like five or six years ago when cell phones were super expensive. It’s always different. I’m sure it’s slowly killing culture and community, but people are more interested in the instant gratification of it all.

NS: What it is about Chicago that you love?

MN: It’s just the center of the Midwest. It’s the hub. I don’t know what it is. It terms of culture and everything, it’s just so much great [stuff]. It literally is always a great show. I’ve never had a bad show in Chicago. Maybe one. But that’s the best ratio yet. You can always count on the energy to be out of control.

NS: What advice would you give to college students?

MN: You gotta follow what you love and move on passion. That’s how I feel. If you’re able to afford that option, you should really follow what you want to do and what you think you should do. The idea of following unconventional ways of making money or doing what you love, right out of college, you can’t cheat yourself out of that experience because you’ll never get it back. Life becomes very heavy really quick and gets in the way, so it’s important to do your thing and blaze your path right out of college and not settle.