JD McPherson

I have something to confess: I have a weird thing about bands I like. I am always torn between spreading the word and keeping the secret so they don't become too big.  Sharing the love won out in this instance.  In Minneapolis, we have this great public radio station that plays only music called The Current.  What's great about this station is they play tons of different kinds of music and since it's public radio they don't have to play only popular music. I find out about new bands, local bands and obscure bands.

 Long story short, they turned me onto JD McPherson. I really liked the 2 songs I heard on the radio so when I saw he was going to play a free show at our state fair, I had to go. I couldn't find any friends that could go last minute so I packed up my courage and went alone.  You could have knocked me over with a feather, he was that good live.  The majority of the crowd did not know who he was (I'm assuming) and was made up of people my parents age and young families save for a few of us younger hip cats in the back. By the end of the show, he had people dancing in the aisles and up by the stage and even got a standing ovation.  In the days since, I've been trying to explain the sound to people and I can't really do it.  If all you heard was the record, you might think that the songs were recorded 60 years ago.  He sounds like a modern take on old rock and roll.  I put his video down below.

Story time.  Like I said before, I went to the show alone. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. At the end of the show, he announced they were selling merch up at the front so I decided to head down there and pick up the CD. The bass player was the person selling the merch and the person in front of me was getting his autograph. I thought, what the heck, I'll get one too. Then, I saw the rest of the band just milling around next to the stage with only a couple of people by them. I waited in a small line and got to meet the whole band and get their autographs. I had my camera with and the guy behind me in line said he would take my picture. The flash was being really weird so I stepped to the side to try to fix it. I couldn't get it figured out so I told JD to just forget it. This is how nice he is. He said, "No, no. I used to have a camera like that so let me take a look at it." Then, one of the other members of the band took a picture of us. How nice is that? How many professional musicians would take the time to fix your camera and then pose with you. Not many. The music is great but all of their personalities really put them over the top for me. I don't want to sound like a crazy fan girl but I think it's a bit late now :)

Proof.

Please go check him out and support him if he makes it to your city. I know I'm crossing my fingers he comes back here.

PS, isn't the sax player so cute?! He looks like Joseph Gordon-Levitt to me. Hard to see here I think :)