Everyone at some point in their lives has experienced an awkward situation that’s stuck with them in a weird way.

It could be how the uneasy feeling that was present during that time has a way of creeping in. It could also be how the conversation that sparked the awkwardness is forever branded in the person’s mind.

To put this feeling to music, Boston singer-songwriter Prateek Poddar wrote “Wrong.” The single was released via the Cranston-based label Pitch & Prose on Spotify, Bandcamp and Apple Music on April 13, and it’s a great example of honest storytelling with an acoustic guitar.

Poddar wrote the song earlier this year in the midst of a battle with depression. Out of that instance of tribulation, a memory of his earlier days as a college student that dealt with race in an intimate situation sparked the single’s creation.

“I thought back to my college years when a girl I was hooking up with said I was the first non-white guy she had ever ‘done anything with,’” he says about the story behind the song. “It was a jarring experience and finally 10 years later, I realized that it was part of why I’d always felt wary and anxious of dating. At the time, I brushed it off, but those words stuck with me in a deeply uncomfortable way. Dating was miserable, I felt out of place, strange and just plain ugly, like I was trying to convince the women I met on dating apps to take pity on some kind of freak. Finally at the beginning of 2021, I thought back to that moment and realized how deeply it had affected me, and after this realization, I wrote ‘Wrong’ in an afternoon.”

Since joining up with Pitch & Prose last year, Poddar has been excited to be part of a growing local music entity. This single promises to be one of many releases that he plans on putting out through the label.

“I got connected with Pitch & Prose through my friend Olivia, who’s also on their roster of artists,” he says. “She got me on the bill for their 2020 Halloween show and I was absolutely blown away by the warm reception of my music and the strong sense of community among the artists and the audience. I decided that night to join the Pitch & Prose roster. It’s been a fun ride since then, and a real joy to be part of something growing right here in New England.”

As mentioned earlier, what really makes Poddar stand out from his contemporaries is his fearless honesty. He puts a lot of heart into his music and he sings about subjects such as alienation, vices like drugs and alcohol, abstaining from those vices, social situations and other topics.

There’s always somebody picking up a guitar and singing a song, but genuineness and authenticity separate the real ones from the rip-offs. Consider Poddar to be affiliated with the former rather than the latter.

For more info on Poddar and his music, visit his website at prateeksongs.com and check out his Patreon page at patreon.com/prateekmusic for some cool exclusives. While you’re at it, check out Pitch & Prose’s website at www pitchandprose.com to see what they’re up to in your own backyard.