Michael McDermott – Lighthouse On The Shore & East Jesus
Michael McDermott – Lighthouse On The Shore & East Jesus
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital
Label: Pauper Sky Records
Release: 2024
Release date: September 13, 2024
Music has two personalities, a duality frequently characterized by quiet introspection and power-driven proclamation. If you were a photographer, it would be light and dark. If you were a painter, it would be black and white. For a musician, it’s acoustic and electric
Revered Chicago-based singer-songwriter Michael McDermott revelled in his creative duality to craft a first – two full albums, one acoustic and one electric, to be released on the same day as companion pieces of work. ‘Lighthouse On The Shore,’ the acoustic opus, and ‘East Jesus,’ the electric collection, arrive September 13 on McDermott’s own Pauper Sky Records.
“I guess it’s always been a bit of a balancing act, my multiple personalities,” says McDermott. “One of my personalities grew up listening to early Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, traditional Irish music, and Tom Waits. The other one was raised on The Stones, The Who, Van Morrison, and U2. My songwriting varies wildly, to sometimes great effect and other times a seemingly incoherent array of songs that never find homes on my albums. This time I thought I’d lean into both, make a quiet record and a loud one.”
The quiet record, Lighthouse on the Shore, was recorded and mixed at Pauper Sky Studio in Orland Park, Illinois with a stellar group of musicians: McDermott on guitars, piano, bass, and vocals; Heather Lynne Horton on fiddle and vocals; Matt Thompson on stand-up and electric bass; Will Kimbrough on guitars, banjo, and mandola; John Deaderick on piano, keyboards, organ, and Omnichord; and Katie Burns on cello. Lighthouse on the Shore was produced and mixed by McDermott with additional production by Deaderick.
In 10 self-penned songs, McDermott explores deep and resonant emotions with gentle melancholy and open-hearted honesty.
Website: https://www.michael-mcdermott.com/
Tracks ‘Lighthouse On The Shore’
01. Bradbury Daydream (3:53)
02. Nothing Changes (4:23)
03. Goddamnit Lovely* (4:22)
04. I am Not My Father (3:50)
05. Hey La Hey #23 (4:50)
06. Gonna Rise Up (4:15)
07. Where God Never Goes (5:48)
08. Lighthouse on the Shore (4.52)
09. Count Your Blessings (4:19)
10. Grateful (4:56)
Tracks ‘East Jesus’
01. FCO (4:00)
02. Berlin at Night (4:04)
03. A Head Full of Rain (5:02)
04. East Jesus (5:03)
05. Lost Paradise (4:15)
06. Quicksand* (4:20)
07. Charlie Brown (4:27)
08. Behind the Eight (3.46)
09. The Circus* (4:46)
10. Whose Life I’m Living* (4:07)