Happy December, Friend!

This month always feels like it sneaks up on me. I swear that it was just yesterday I was contemplating my goals for the new year… but at the same time, it seems like ages ago. It almost feels like I’ve packed a lifetime of events and excitement into 341 days (or something like that; calendar math is hard), and I’ve had the opportunity to exercise my creative muscles in so many different ways that I’ve almost lost count.

Music has, as always, been my primary focus. I’ve been able to continue traveling and touring all around the country to perform at various events and venues, visiting cities like Chicago, Austin, Memphis, St Louis, and more to share my songs – close to 100 shows in total this year! I’ve stayed equally busy at home, filming and producing not one, but THREE new music videos. Just this week I released the first of those, a live concert video of my band The Mess Makers. It’s always a blast sharing the stage with Kevin, Eric, and Michael, and videographer Tyler Ray (also guitarist of The Boom Shakalakas and Guy Snowdon & the Citizens) did an amazing job of capturing that energy. Check it out!

“House of Ghosts” – Michael McFarland & the Mess Makers

A second Mess Makers video is also waiting in the wings; I finished the first rough cut of it earlier this week, so expect that soon! A solo video filmed at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park is also in the works for release early next year. With all these videos coming out, I’ve had the itch to start working on my first Hello Headrush video as well, and I’m pretty excited about the idea I’ve been fleshing for that – I can’t wait to tackle in the coming months.

Another exciting bit of news; I just was offered an endorsement deal from Trident Media, which means I’ll soon be one of those cool kids whose guitar picks have their own logo on it! It’s an honor to have been asked to join their roster, and their products are absolutely top-notch.

Parallel to my career as a musician, I’ve also been continuing to build the DIY music venue that operates out of my own home. McFarland Manor celebrated its one year anniversary with a multi-day music and arts festival that was attended by over 400 friends and fans. Our lineup featured over 30 musicians, a dozen featured artists, dancers, storytellers, puppets, and even a strongman! The community continues to show overwhelming support for local music and it never ceases to amaze me.

This year has also seen incredible (and unexpected) growth in my career as a visual artist, as well. Last year, I began drawing black and white character portraiture, and my collection of personae has expanded to over 100 individuals. On top of the 2D art, I’ve found myself right in the middle of Ingenuity Cleveland, an ever-growing creative collaborative that develops large-scale interactive art experiences for festivals and other events around town. For the group’s flagship event, IngenuityFest: Dreamscapes, I had the honor of developing and building a wonderful piece, collaborating with my partner Amanda, my brother Dave, and even my niece Julia & her partner Piper got in on the action! The Zen Soundscapes project let me hone not only my art skills, but my building and software skills as well, while allowing me to use my background in audio engineering in an unexpected way. We’re already planning for the next event, and I’m so excited to see what we create next.

On top of my creative endeavors, Amanda & I also had the amazing opportunity to backpack around Europe this summer! Starting with the Women’s World Cup semis in Lyons, France (which the US won, natch), we spent a day in rural France, an evening in Lyon proper, two days in Paris, two days in Rotterdam, and two days in Scotland walking the hills from which my McFarland ancestors came, before heading to London for the return trip. 

It’s hard to believe I was able to fit so many adventures into the past eleven months, and I know that my 2020 calendar is already filling rapidly; after celebrating New Year’s Eve, I’ll have just one day off before hitting the road to New Orleans, with a stop in Nashville along the way! Life continues to be a crazy whirlwind work in progress journey, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.

Here’s a quick rundown of the shows I’ve got coming up over the next month:

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

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