The
Ian McFeron Band exploded onto the Seattle music scene shortly after releasing
their debut album, Don't Look Back (2003), when they were discovered by “The
Mountain” in Seattle (AAA-formatted KMTT at 103.7 FM). Within months, the first
single, Love Me Twice, edged out songs by Modest Mouse, Bob Schneider, The Bo
Deans, and Ray LaMontagne in The Mountain's "New Music Throwdown," a
weekly competition where listeners vote for their favorite of two new songs.
The band went on to share the spotlight with international and national artists
such as Patty Griffin, Nanci Griffith, Shawn Mullins, Amos Lee, Sister Hazel,
Missy Higgins, Julia Fordham, Carbon Leaf, The Hothouse Flowers, and Jars of
Clay.
A prolific songwriter whose lyrical prose and fervent work ethic has drawn
comparisons to Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams, McFeron has released a steady stream
of albums: Don’t Look Back (2003), A Long Way To Freedom (2005), and Fistfight
With Father Time (2006). Let It Ride (2007) marks the band’s fourth full
length LP- a fourteen-track narrative spanning themes of love and heartbreak,
faith and despair, political corruption and hope. Released on March 3rd,
2007, Let It Ride was celebrated with back-to-back shows at the Triple Door in
Seattle, both of which sold out in advance.
In live performance, McFeron (vocals, guitars, piano) is joined by the Texas
fiddle of Alisa Milner and the backbeat rhythms of Todd VanSelus and Mark
Bateman. The band has also performed with well-known Northwest lead-guitar players
such as Alice Stuart and Rod Cook, and with slide-guitar virtuoso Dan Tyack.
The diverse musicianship of its members allows the Ian McFeron Band to
shift smoothly through a variety of roots-Americana styles, ranging from
acoustic folk rock to gritty alt-country blues, from heartfelt, soulful ballads
to driving, danceable backbeat groves.
Ian McFeron is an enormously talented musician. With his witty sense and slight Irish feel to his Dalanisk touch of music, he can take coffee houses by storm, and bring honest music to concert halls. His origional music will be memorable for a long time to come. We welcome him into our: Bakersfield City Limits Division in The Bakersfield Interest.