Labor Day Special with the Folk-playing Firestarter: Bryan McPherson
California has a way of pulling people to grow into their best selves even when the reality here hits the pavement. Bryan McPherson, a fiery and folk-playing Dorchester native was called west in July of 2010 and set to work on themes of conscience and injustice that the Occupy movement would soon make national. McPherson's sound is a blend of harmonica, acoustic guitar and lyrics
that are full of heart, like a Bright Eyes or Ryan Adams on a social justice rampage.
At times he's a more aggressive, amplified version of Woody Guthrie or
Bob Dylan or Tracy Chapman, although the occasional quiet ballad like Lonely Streets provides a nice counterpoint to his usual marching orders. Mad as hell is one way to describe his music as he contours all the interconnected way in which we
Americans are losing our liberties. There must be some serious fire in his chart, a red-hot theme that bubbled continuously through our recent conversation.
I first heard Bryan play in the winter of 2009 at a fundraiser supporting local artists and remember being both touched and wowed and knowing that he was going to blow up someday. In 2007 he had written and recorded his debut album, Fourteen Stories, a pained and bittersweet homage to his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. His just-released sophomore work, American Boy, American Girl, has a bit more edge and was written and (nearly fully) produced in the Bay Area. This latest work is a fierce example of his proletariat brand of new-folk music that provided the soundtrack for Oakland's Occupy event where Bryan played several times. But don't ever mistake him for an Occupy musician as we aptly discussed on Labor Day.
American Boy, American Girl is an angry and political album and I'm wondering how that squares with (what I perceive as) the relatively peaceful nature of the Bay Area. Was this inspired by the city of Berkeley? Furthermore, did the Occupy movement give you some juice in your songwriting?
All of the songs on ABAG were written and recorded before the Occupy Movement ever happened. It is not just coincidental but a indication to the legitimacy, I feel, of the gripes voiced in that movement and on that record. These are real feelings and injustices felt by people. My record was not a response to that movement but a reflection of the times in which we were living in. The Occupy movement was a boiling point.
I don't see the Bay Area as that peaceful to be perfectly honest. I know there are a lot of passive-aggressive drugged-out hippies here who talk a lot of peace, but is that peace? I know that at 924 Gilman St, there is graffiti on the walls by an old punk rock band called Blatz that says “if this is such a mellow place, why do I feel so mean?". I think the Bay has a great reputation of being peaceful and warm, but when that cold bay breeze blows in, it can be pretty cold. Who the fuck is happy wearing a winter jacket in July? I know I didn't feel a lot of peace getting shot at by police in Oakland or when the streets were on fire or when I watched a young homeless girl walk bleeding through the streets of San Francisco looking for her dad or every night when someone gets stabbed in the Tenderloin or shot in Oakland or listening to the screams of insane people roaming around shitting on Market Street. Is it peace or indifference?
What sort of themes are you thinking about for your next album? Does California evoke anything else on the emotional spectrum?
The themes for my next record can be summed up in one word. Fire. California is symbolic to me of the American dream of going west. I know the saddest day for me was driving down the coast on thanksgiving being as far west as I could get and looking out at that beautiful coast and seeing oil rig after oil rig after oil rig after oil rig and I remember being as sad as I could be because I could not escape this.
Did you ever expect travel to be such a large part of your music?
I am currently in the process of booking a cross country tour. I have played both coasts and England. Definitely looking forward to seeing the rest of America! I love touring. The adventure, the unknown, meeting new people, going to new places, living in the moment, playing music every day. I usually do not like coming back.
Your debut album, Fourteen Stories, was very much a reflection of your hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. What do you see as a few of the differences between Eastern Massachusetts and the Bay Area?
Boston is the Boy and San Francisco is The Girl.
Check out his website at http://www.bryanmcpherson.com
I first heard Bryan play in the winter of 2009 at a fundraiser supporting local artists and remember being both touched and wowed and knowing that he was going to blow up someday. In 2007 he had written and recorded his debut album, Fourteen Stories, a pained and bittersweet homage to his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. His just-released sophomore work, American Boy, American Girl, has a bit more edge and was written and (nearly fully) produced in the Bay Area. This latest work is a fierce example of his proletariat brand of new-folk music that provided the soundtrack for Oakland's Occupy event where Bryan played several times. But don't ever mistake him for an Occupy musician as we aptly discussed on Labor Day.
American Boy, American Girl is an angry and political album and I'm wondering how that squares with (what I perceive as) the relatively peaceful nature of the Bay Area. Was this inspired by the city of Berkeley? Furthermore, did the Occupy movement give you some juice in your songwriting?
All of the songs on ABAG were written and recorded before the Occupy Movement ever happened. It is not just coincidental but a indication to the legitimacy, I feel, of the gripes voiced in that movement and on that record. These are real feelings and injustices felt by people. My record was not a response to that movement but a reflection of the times in which we were living in. The Occupy movement was a boiling point.
I don't see the Bay Area as that peaceful to be perfectly honest. I know there are a lot of passive-aggressive drugged-out hippies here who talk a lot of peace, but is that peace? I know that at 924 Gilman St, there is graffiti on the walls by an old punk rock band called Blatz that says “if this is such a mellow place, why do I feel so mean?". I think the Bay has a great reputation of being peaceful and warm, but when that cold bay breeze blows in, it can be pretty cold. Who the fuck is happy wearing a winter jacket in July? I know I didn't feel a lot of peace getting shot at by police in Oakland or when the streets were on fire or when I watched a young homeless girl walk bleeding through the streets of San Francisco looking for her dad or every night when someone gets stabbed in the Tenderloin or shot in Oakland or listening to the screams of insane people roaming around shitting on Market Street. Is it peace or indifference?
What sort of themes are you thinking about for your next album? Does California evoke anything else on the emotional spectrum?
The themes for my next record can be summed up in one word. Fire. California is symbolic to me of the American dream of going west. I know the saddest day for me was driving down the coast on thanksgiving being as far west as I could get and looking out at that beautiful coast and seeing oil rig after oil rig after oil rig after oil rig and I remember being as sad as I could be because I could not escape this.
Did you ever expect travel to be such a large part of your music?
I am currently in the process of booking a cross country tour. I have played both coasts and England. Definitely looking forward to seeing the rest of America! I love touring. The adventure, the unknown, meeting new people, going to new places, living in the moment, playing music every day. I usually do not like coming back.
Your debut album, Fourteen Stories, was very much a reflection of your hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. What do you see as a few of the differences between Eastern Massachusetts and the Bay Area?
Boston is the Boy and San Francisco is The Girl.
Check out his website at http://www.bryanmcpherson.com
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