Much-loved local songsmith Lilly Hiatt has only recently made long-distance friends with New Jersey troubadour and Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon. But they seemed to immediately hit it off during Wednesday's livestream on Fallon's Instagram profile. The event was part of Sitting Around at Home, a new series Fallon has launched in which he'll discuss songs with other songwriters.

The two already had plenty in common, of course: Hiatt’s fourth album Walking Proof and Fallon’s latest solo LP Local Honey are both grade-A rock albums with rich songs, and both were released March 27 — unexpectedly, right in the thick of a global pandemic. During their digital meet-up, they found even more connections. Right from the start, they agreed on the importance of the relationship each has with nervous energy.

“I'm almost grateful that I get as nervous as I do,” Hiatt said. "The worst shows I’ve had were the ones where I’m completely calm.”

Then, Fallon recalled a time between tours when he was staying with his parents, and was asking himself tough questions about his goals as an artist. "Really, I wanna be like the rest of my heroes," he said. "I just wanna be a page in the book." After that, he played the first song of the night, Gaslight Anthem's “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts.” He dedicated the song to people who've inspired him, both present and departed. Among other things, the performance was a nod to the death the night before of songwriter's songwriter John Prine, due to complications from COVID-19.

"I don’t even know how to talk about it, but it's been on my mind all day,” said Hiatt of Prine's death. "When someone writes such impactful lyrics, they live eternally.”

Illustrating that point, Hiatt played “The Day David Bowie Died” from her breakout 2017 record Trinity Lane. The song, penned in the hours after Bowie's death in 2016, was a reminder that beauty is something important to remember, even in times of the worst pain and loss. It was a treat to watch the two bond in real time — over the anxiety of winging it with impromptu guitar solos, fighting against impostor syndrome and more — before rolling into more songs.

Fallon shared how a stylized photo of Lana Del Rey inspired him to write the Gaslight Anthem song “National Anthem,” while Hiatt discussed how her song “Rae” was initially written about her sister, but its meaning has broadened over time. That feeling of appreciating others and the time we have with them, through bad times and good, especially resonates in a time when the only responsible way to reach out to others is from a distance.

"We’re all stuck together,” said Hiatt as she strummed the first few chords of “Some Kind of Drug,” her final song of the night. “But if we do the thing that we can do, which is entertain, it gives people a break."