Songwriting has always been a form of therapy for Michael McArthur. Over the past decade, the Florida native has filled a handful of EPs with his own mix of raw soul and lushly layered folk, working with producers like David Bianco (Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams) and Greg Wells (Adele, One Republic) along the way. His 2019 album Ever Green, Ever Rain, recorded with Grammy-winning producer Ryan Freeland and inspired by McArthur’s long period of isolation and self-repair, was released to critical acclaim.
2020 sees McArthur return with a pair of EPs, Oh, Sedona and How to Fall In Love, to be released consecutively this summer, featuring new tracks as well as acoustic renditions of favorites from Ever Green, Ever Rain. While the album was recorded with a full band, McArthur often tours as a solo act and wanted to make recordings that reflect how these songs take shape in a live setting. He explains it this way:
“Oh, the life of a solo artist can be at times inherently solitary. One’s search for a deeper understanding to better inform the art often requires hours and days in thought. Working and reworking. Assembling and dismantling. Firing and watering. The dynamics of that change though when you have no choice, but to be alone.”
“Since we are unable to come together in concert, I’ve formed and shaped what has been a lifeline for me, and I’m tossing it out to the world, for those who need a hand. Performed in the way that I wrote them, there’s something about the uncovering of a song that invites you to reach down a little deeper. To listen with both ears. To be at ease.”
“That’s the reason for these one-take live performances. With complete humanity intact, it’s essential to the integrity of the songs and their purpose, that they be revealed in their most fundamental form. The only way to relate is through honesty.”
The first of the two new EPs, Oh, Sedona features a stripped-bare yet warming cover of Prince’s classic “Purple Rain” as well as a new original song in the title track — a deeply personal tale of remembrance in loss.
“You can’t know the importance of a funeral, of that collective remembering, the final farewell, until you’ve attended one, or until you’re unable to. My last grandparent passed away earlier this year — Grandma — and her celebration of life has been postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. I spent the summers visiting her and Granddad in Arizona. ‘Oh, Sedona’ was written in remembrance of her contribution to my life. So that I may not forget.”
“Recording myself is something I’ve done from the very beginning. Back in 2002, my brother and I had this software called Magix Music Studio. I think we picked it up at Circuit City or someplace. That interest in the recording and engineering side of making music has only pushed its way further to the front of my mind through the years. I read Tape Op and Sound on Sound and watch interviews of my producer/mixer/engineer heroes like Jacquire King, T Bone Burnett, & Dave Cobb. I figure when the day comes that my hands quit or my voice stops, I can continue on by recording other people.
Glide is proud to premiere “Oh, Sedona” a radiating set of songs where McArthur’s melancholy folk treats ears to songs that stray from the obvious and reward ears with a deep-rooted voice reminiscent of Cash, Lightfoot and Hansard. Take Prince’s “Purple Rain” where a soulful singer-songwriter flair reimagines this classic and rewashes it into an almost original jewel.
“When I first started out, I wanted to be a great guitar player. I’d practice various scales and riffs, and studied up on the circle of fifths, but kept getting distracted by writing songs.” says McArthur about the cover. “Now, I know just enough about the guitar to write. I admire Prince because he was able to do (among many other things) both and well. My favorite covers are the unanticipated ones. Like a story told from the reader’s perspective. You only really know what it means to you. This is an attempt at that. I can’t sing like Prince, and I can’t play like him either. But I did it the best I know how.”
Photo by Michael Flores.
