Dan McCoy

Story

Dan McCoy released “Live & Alone” on Aug 14th 2017. The release highlights Dan’s solo acoustic show which has become a crowd favorite in establishments in the greater Cleveland and Pittsburgh areas. He currently does around 50 solo acoustic shows a year as well as his shows with his two band configurations, Rambler 454 and Dan McCoy and the Standing 8s. In November of 2016 Dan recorded a live evening in his hometown of Willoughby, OH. The recording was released digitally on Aug. 14, 2017 & the CD version was made available Sept. 22. Of the album McCoy says, “This is a “warts & all” release. None of my shows are perfect & this is a great representation of what you may hear on any given night at one of my shows; the din of the crowd in the background, the missed chord or two, the wrong lyric here & there.” While those may seem like negatives McCoy shrugs it off by saying, “I’m human & have many flaws. What I like about leaving all that in there is it’s genuine. There were no studio tricks or overdubs to lead one to believe I play perfect every time out. The energy is real & I think that comes through with this live set.” Of the location of the recording he had this to say, “I felt it was important to me to record in my hometown as a sort of thank you to all the folks from that area that have supported my music & I over the many years. The building in which I recorded (Beal’s Pickles & Pints) has a special place in my heart. Before the Beal family took it over I played for the previous owners for a number of years cutting my teeth as a solo artist. Recording there seemed to be the right fit & kind of brought this phase of my career full circle. Plus, I felt recording at one of the clubs in the Cleveland area wouldn’t have been an accurate representation of what a night out with me would be like. I play the small bars a lot & wanted that feel.” Dan will be promoting the album for the next few months & is already at work on a new studio record with the plan of releasing it in the spring/summer of 2018. Separate from the live release the single track “My Love” was released to internet radio & digital outlets everywhere on June 2, 2017. Dan McCoy picked up the Cleveland Scene Magazine Music Award for best Americana/Country band in 2010 and hasn’t slowed down since. In that time he has been playing on alot around his hometown of Willoughby, OH as well as other spots throughout the greater Cleveland area and a few choice spots in the Pittsburgh area including the 2017 Three Rivers Arts Festival. Currently Dan is writing songs for a number of solo albums he's hoping to release in the next year or so. McCoy has been bringing his brand of Heartland-Alt.Country-Rock to the masses since 1988 (he played his first gig a month before his 15th birthday). There have been many comparisons of McCoy's music to Springsteen, Petty, Seger, Mellencamp as well as more contemporary artists such as Lucero, Drive-By Truckers & Will Hoge. "McCoy has a boyish, fun rock voice that sounds like Jackson Browne with more guts and growl" says Jennifer Layton from Indie-Music.com. His enthusiastic onstage persona is infectious & by the end of a set one feels as though he's an old friend you haven't seen in a while. When playing the long nights of mixing cover songs in with the originals Jay Wooley's (of Wooley Bully's in New Brighton, PA ) description pretty much hits the nail on the head..."A plethora of rock, country & Irish tunes, solo acoustic style." FOR MORE INFO – [email protected], https://mccoymusic.com/home

Profile

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Influences

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Languages

What is music to you? What does it give you?

It gives me a high better than any drug or alcohol could.

What is your music dream?

To sustain a nice quality of living via making music one way or another. Whether it be performing or writing.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

Kindness, communication & understanding.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

I'm not sure I can answer this one. Way too many songs to choose from.

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

That list will be too long but you can get a sense by looking at my "Influences" on my home page thingy.

What inspires you to make music?

Life & the fact that music has been an integral part of my life since I was about 3 years old.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

I like being a storyteller, or at least trying to be one. I suppose there are many messages I want to send but it's a song by song basis. Sometimes I want the listener to know they're not alone & others have been in a similar situation. Other times I just want to provide an outlet for the listener to escape reality for a while & enjoy the moment.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

Usually happy & positive. It's the drunkards that disrupt the flow & vibe that can piss me off if I let them. HAHA. On a good night, when the crowd is in sync with what I'm doing & people are dancing and singing along, it is almost orgasmic.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

I don't know that a musician's reality now is all that different from 20 years ago. There always seem to be places to play. I do think technology overall can be a double edged sword now. It's great that unknown schlep like me can get his music out in front of a much broader audience. The down side is there are a million & one others vying for similar attention. It can become overwhelming as a listener/fan. Also, something needs to be done about royalty rates & streaming, etc. It's a shame that so many talented yet lesser known acts aren't being properly compensated for their art.

What do you think of Drooble?

I've been on here less than a week but so far I'm digging it.

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Competitiveness & pettiness. Music is an art form & like all art not everyone is going to dig it. To say this band is better than that band is silly & annoying. Bands competing against one another for a title of "we're the best" is the wrong way to go about nurturing an artist or scene in my opinion. Example: My high school buddy is a house DJ. It's not my bag but I'm not going to bash what he does so I can get a gig or draw attention to my music or whatever. Instead I respect his work & give him a shout out when I can to let people know there are others doing cool things in genres different from mine.

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

I go to shows, promote other musicians that I think are worthy of recognition, set up shows with fellow musicians. A local scene is only as good as the people in it. If it's all negativity then the scene will be hostile & kind of shitty. If there's a lot of positive energy & support for one another I feel a scene will thrive.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

Drive, ambition & rhino skin.

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

Boo Lee Crosser, Ryan Manthey, Brent Kirby, The Jack Fords, Ray Flanagan, Jason Meyers, Howard Micenmacher, Kevin Conaway, Seth Ohm...all these cats are part of the Cleveland/Akron music scene & are fantastic people and musicians.