Ian McFeron Band live @ The Red Bike

Ian McFeron tours in support of his new album "Time Will Take You", recorded in Nashville and produced by Grammy nominated Doug Lancio. McFeron is joined in concert by longtime friends and musical accompanists Alisa Milner on fiddle, cello, and harmony vocals, Norman Baker on bass and harmony vocals, and Mark Bateman on drums.
 
Seattle-based Ian McFeron released his 7th studio record Time Will Take You on April 2, 2013. Produced by Doug Lancio (Grammy nominated producer for Patty Griffin), the folk-rock album also includes two of Ryan Adams’ Cardinals - drummer Brad Pemberton and pedal steel player Jon Graboff - as well as Nashville-based piano and organ player Micah Hulscher and two from McFeron’s road band - fiddler and harmony vocalist Alisa Milner, and bassist and harmony vocalist Norman Baker.
 
Before it ever reached the studio, though, Time Will Take You was nearly waylaid by a possible career change. McFeron had had spent the better part of the previous decade touring nationally and internationally, averaging 200 shows a year. He had made a full-time career out of playing music, but was still living hand to mouth. Unexpectedly, he was offered a job teaching in an inner-city school. "It was sort of like ‘you want a change of pace, well here you go,’" said McFeron. "At first I was excited about the idea of trying something new, but the more I thought about it the less sure I was about anything." Weighing the decision through his music, the Seattle based singer-songwriter wrote "That’s The Truth" about getting unstuck and searching for new bearings. "A bunch of new themes started opening up for me. I realized I had love in my life, I had music to write, I was making enough money to get by. These were solutions to the struggles I was facing and they became cardinal directions in writing the album."
 
McFeron decided to take the new material out on the road. While touring through Nashville, he reconnected with Lancio, who had produced his last album Summer Nights, and Pemberton, who had played drums. "I actually wrote a lot of the new songs with Doug and Brad in mind. There’s just something infectious about the way they approach their instruments. They both have this laid-back, Nashville swagger and, after we made Summer Nights, it somehow worked its way into my writing."
 
Lancio and Pemberton quickly expressed interest in working together again. "It felt different than the last record because at that point we had all known each other for a couple years and had built a friendship around the music. I’d been a fan of their playing long before I ever met or worked with them on Summer Nights, and in some ways that was a challenge for me in making that album. But while we were sitting there, talking over the songs, it felt sort of like getting an old band back together- like they were getting on board because we had more music we needed to make and we were all excited about that."
 
"A few months later Doug told me the players he had lined up for the sessions and I knew we had a special group of musicians with great instincts. With guys like that, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the right thing to play. We didn’t want there to be room for too much deliberation, so we booked 3 days in the studio and recorded the whole thing live with all seven of us tracking together. Even the vocals are what I sang live over the band. It gives the record a very performance-driven feel that’s real comfortable to listen back to."
 
The songs are a change from albums McFeron has recorded in the past. There are less stories of heart break, and more stories from the road. There are songs about troubled times and references to the things you don’t lose to foreclosure or a broken stock market ticker- like family, friends, and relationships. "It’s a brighter record than Summer Nights, which I loved for its late-night, introspective mood. The new songs are more upbeat and fun. It’s a much more playful album, but it still digs into some soul searching, especially in the latter half." In the end, the message is a word of comfort in the midst of struggle- a reminder that hard times pass. "I guess that’s why I decided to call it Time Will Take You. It’s a line from one of the songs, but it’s also a central theme- that time has a way of carrying you, even when you feel frozen in space. With enough time and enough hope, you get to where you are meant to be. Eventually."
 
Saturday, November 16th at 8:30pm. At the Red Bicycle, 17618 Vashon Hwy SW. 206-463-5590
FREE / All-Ages until 11pm
www.redbicyclebistro.com