September Music News

Hey, Friend!

Welcome to September! The weather’s pretending like it’s going to stay cool for a bit, but here in Ohio we know that there’s going to be at least one more sweltering heat wave before diving straight into winter. But, you know, variety, spice, life, and all that.

It’s not officially Autumn yet, but never mind that; the impending season has always been a time of change, of transitions, of new beginnings. Spring may try to claim that title, but it’s never worked out that way in my life. This year looks to stay true to form; the biggest change coming this time is that I’ll be returning to the stage with my full band – Michael McFarland and the Mess Makers – on a regular basis! Our first performance will be at the Heights Music Hop, a 3-day festival jam-packed with incredible talent; we’ll be performing on Friday the 13th ( 😱) at 8PM… and you can expect to see lots more shows with the Mess Makers showing up on the calendar in the coming months.

I’ve also started writing new material! Much like the squirrels are doing right now, I stockpile song ideas, lyrical snippets, and melodic fragments (usually in my phone’s voice recorder, but occasionally in my cheek pouches along with some acorns) until I’m ready to start writing in earnest. A few weeks back, it felt like the right time to start stitching together those pieces into full-fledged songs. I’ve already been in the studio demoing new tracks, and you can anticipate at least one new song will be released before the year’s end!

Hello Headrush (my Apocalypse Dance Party Electro-Rock Opera) will also be releasing a new single later this month. No audio for you yet, but if you’ve seen Hello Headrush live, you’ve heard this one already. I can show you what the single artwork looks like, though…

Hello Headrush will be hitting the stage again at the end of the month – September 28th at 7PM – for one of the coolest events that Cleveland has to offer: IngenuityFest! Along with building some big crazy interactive art installations for the festival (you might remember the Zen SoundScapes project I mentioned last month, and thank you SO MUCH if you donated, shared, or even just took the time to check out the fundraiser), I’m helping curate one of the stages at the festival this year! Meg Stepka & I have joined forces to curate three days of outside-the-box multimedia performances. If you can make it to the festival, make sure you swing by the Cabaret Stage and check out all the awesome that’s going to be unfolding there.

Because of all the prep involved in getting ready for IngenuityFest at the end of this month, I’ve intentionally kept my show schedule lighter in September than I have for the rest of the year, but there’s still some opportunities to catch me performing around the region:

As always, there’s a chance I might end up picking up a few more shows over the coming weeks, so be sure to like my various social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and keep an eye on the Tour Dates page to make sure you don’t miss anything.

Once again, thank you for taking this journey with me. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Cheers,
Michael