Coffee House Music or Acoustic Rock? Finding My Place and My Music’s – From The Mind of McFarland music blog.
I’m now coming near to the end of my second national tour this year – just yesterday I took a second to overlay the maps of my spring and summer tours and was genuinely astounded at how much ground I’ve covered in the past few months. According to my car’s odometer (and yes, I’m in a car this time, not on my motorcycle – God willing, I’ll be back on two wheels for my next tour), I’ve travelled 6,000 miles on this tour, and I’m still 2,500 miles from home. I’ve played in all manner of spaces, from the dingy rock venue to the swanky wine bar, but the largest group of establishments I’ve had the pleasure to regale with my songs has been the ever-present coffee shop. I’ve met some amazing people at the coffee shops, and am more than grateful for the opportunity to share my music wherever I’m given the chance to, but I’ve frequently found myself wondering – do I play coffee house music?
Until two years ago, my primary musical project was a loud rock band called Aviatik. Some described us as Progressive Alt-Punk, but without getting too deep into our sound, suffice it to say that I occasionally screamed on stage, and while perhaps not to 11, our amps certainly went to 10.5. And for those who are curious, Aviatik is not broken up, we are on geographical hiatus.
Transitioning to being a primarily solo musician made finding my place in the world of performance a bit of a challenge. For a while I had a backing band, but when I moved to Asheville I decided that I wanted to go super-lightweight with my performances, to make touring on a motorcycle possible! For a while I tried playing my songs with just my acoustic guitar, but I’d written them as acoustic rock songs intended for a full band arrangement, and they felt lacking without a rhythm section.
I really turned a corner in my live performances when I hit upon the idea of using a loop pedal and percussive techniques on the body of my guitar to build my rhythms. I arrived at that point from seeing a number of performances that grabbed my attention, and bit by bit the puzzle pieces fell into place in my mind. A new pickup was necessary to fully realize my guitar beats, and my Boss Loop Station completed the puzzle.
So now I have my own little portable rhythm section that fits in the pouch of my gig bag, which leaves me in a bit of a no-man’s-land between acoustic coffee house music and putting on an acoustic rock show. So which am I?
Well, if you see me play in a coffee house, I guess I’m playing coffee house music.
If I’m on a big stage at a rock venue under the bright lights?
I’ll let you answer that one…
-MMcF
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Unleaded rhythmic alt-pop fuels singer/songwriter and two-wheel troubadour Michael McFarland’s engine. Michael McFarland in the simplest summary? Writer, Rocker, Biker, Geek.
For Michael’s Music, Cd’s, Downloads, Merchandise, live show schedule, music blogs, music videos, and everything else you want to know about McFarland, visit the Michael McFarland Website at http://michaelmcfmusic.com/
My personal opinion (so take it with a large grain of salt…you have to follow your own muse) is that I like your live acoustic stuff a lot better than the produced rock stuff on your current album. Of course, I’m an old man, so my opinion shouldn’t really matter!
For the next album, my aim is to capture something that’s a happy medium between my live show and what’s been on my CDs previous. Still a produced studio product, but matching what you’ll see if you make it to a love show.
It was awesome hanging out with you in PDX, glad I could stick around for your birthday!