John McDonough is a singer/songwriter from Austin, Texas who has spent the last 25 years playing in and around Austin while co-producing and self-releasing eight CDs of original music. He has played to any type of crowd you could imagine, fromthe rowdy crowds of 6th street, the dinner crowds of Austin restaurants, and everything in-between.
Nine years ago, he decided to retire from practicing psychotherapy and focus solely on music. In that time he has written and recorded five new CDs, played over 500 gigs, performed in eleven major music festivals, several times appeared and performed on local and national radio, and embarked on successful tours through the United States. His previous three releases, ‘Dreams and Imagination’ ‘Surrounding Colors,’ and ‘Can You See Me Now’ all received great reviews and airplay all over Europe and the United States. All three releases spent six consecutive months on the Americana Music Association Record Chart as well as landing on other American radio charts.
As with everyone, 2020 brought some unexpected changes for John. With the pandemic and travel restricted, John used this time to work on his guitar skills and record an album named ‘Second Chances’ set for release on March 17th, 2021. ‘Second Chances’ consists of acoustic versions of his favorite songs from ‘Dreams and Imagination’ and ‘Surrounding Colors’. He also decided to move to Chicago to be closer to family as well as take advantage of new music opportunities in the area. John plans to tour the United States and Europe in 2021, while continuing to write new music for his next release.
The first track on ‘Second Chances’ is the moving ‘The Place Where I Belong’. Beginning with a peaceful acoustic guitar, John’s strong voice describes the beautiful scene with vivid imagery. The song has patience and moves around at a soothing pace, with more and more layers of sounds added as the track progresses. Vocal harmonies and guitars fill out the sonic landscape with tasteful simplicity, mixing traditional instrumentation with modern production. The deeply passionate feeling comes throughout every track on ‘Second Chances’, from the epic and powerful ‘Tonight’s the Night’ to the cool and mysterious story of ‘I’m Home’.
“I’m very nostalgic for the days of MTV’s Unplugged, and I have always loved the combination of the rock ‘n’ roll voice with acoustic instrumentation. I have dreamed of making a CD in this vein for a long time.” McDonough has shown that when you strip a song down to it’s basic elements; it can be very impactful and give the songs a whole new life. You can listen to ‘Second Chances’ and follow John McDonough on the links below. Please continue to support artist like John and share this music with everyone you know.
https://www.johnmcdonoughlive.com
Categories: Folk, Pop, Pop - Rock, Rock
The Music Butcher 
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