Meghan Clark on The Wicked Good Music Hour

Meghan

Meghan Clark is a thirteen year old songstress from Calais, Maine, a small community in Washington County that borders Canada.  Meghan is the kind of homegrown talent that we love showcasing on The Wicked Good Music Hour.  Accompanied by her mom, Dorie, dad, Matt, and bestie, Priscilla, for her appearance; she also has a supportive fan base in her extended family and hometown.  I happen to know Meghan's mom from high school, but Meghan's spot on The Wicked Good Music Hour was earned purely by her own extraordinary ability. Listening to her sing, you would never guess that she's so young.
Meghan began singing at the tender age of 7 and taught herself to play acoustic guitar.   She has written and arranged a number of original songs and has an impressive array of song covers in her back pocket.  I was busy in the music stacks before the show and had to stop and listen when I heard her singing an arresting rendition of  "Royals" by Lorde in the break room.  On The Wicked Good Music Hour, Meghan sang her own songs and tracks as varied as "Pumped Up Kicks" by indie rock darlings Foster the People to an a capella version of "(Paris) Ooh, La La" by American rockers Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.
Meghan has done a number of local appearances including a benefit concert for the Eastport Art's Center and as a guest at Bordertown Coffee House in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.  She recently pulled off singing The National Anthem at the State House in Augusta, which is a song that has been known to trip up seasoned professionals.  In 2013 Meghan competed in and won the teen division of the Machias Savings Bank's Downeast Idol contest.  On the immediate horizon is an exciting trip to Nashville, Tennessee to work with producer and songwriter Beau Fuller to collaborate on writing songs and recording a demo.  Beau launched Next Big Thing Entertainment in 2011 to help talented artists like Meghan to reach their dream.
Meghan cites age appropriate influences such as former Disney gone teen dance-pop artist, Demi Lovato and country to pop crossover star, Taylor Swift.  She enjoys listening to artists like Ed Sheeran and the bands One Direction and The Maine.  Meghan has the vocal chops and songwriting skills to tackle the country or rock/pop markets if she chooses.  The future is wide open.  Listeners to The Wicked Good Music Hour were impressed with how genuinely gracious Meghan is, and I was really happy for Meghan that one listener took the time to call as soon as the show ended to congratulate her on a job well done.
If you're interested in learning more about Meghan Clark and her music, you can contact her via her Facebook page or via her father at mattclark@consultant.com.  Check out the podcast of her March 15th performance on The Wicked Good Music Hour.

Meghan Sings

Dorie, Matt & Priscilla

The Feather Lungs

I had the pleasure of hosting the Maine based band The Feather Lungs on The Wicked Good Music Hour on March 1st.  The Feather Lungs is a rock and roll band on the move.  The band consists of singer Laura Wood, guitarists David Young and Caleb Orion, Nick Perry on bass and Richard Fortin on drums.  They are a fairly new band, having only been jamming together since late May 2013, but they've already made great strides towards their dream of success on a larger scale.  Band members come from all over Maine with Laura being from Orono, Nick originally from Rumford and now residing in Portland, Caleb and Dave from Augusta, and Richard in Hallowell, which serves as the band's home base.
The Feather Lungs have been recording their album in Richard's home studio in Hallowell.  Laura describes it as "a lot to balance," but their work is paying off with four songs officially in the can and some killer shows on the horizon.  They have one coming up next week at Bayside Bowl in Portland with Volcano Rabbit and Yes We Kin also appearing and another in April when they'll be sharing the stage with local band Chamberlain at Nocturnem in Bangor.  They have one video up online for the song "Subtraction" that was filmed before newest member Caleb joined the band, but they're working on another.  The band has "good energy" and is really moving in a positive direction according to Laura.
The band merges Laura's expressive vocal talents with complimentary instrumentation from the guys.  The backbone of The Feather Lungs' sound is definitely the driving rhythm and guitar swagger.  The band cites an eclectic array of influences from Laura's appreciation for the vocals and songwriting talents of PJ Harvey, Dave's affinity for Beethoven to Nick's preference for The Kinks and ELO. And everyone was in agreement about Fleetwood Mac and The Pixies.  The band name, The Feather Lungs, was actually just a "placeholder" name until they came up with another.  But they never did, and the name stuck.
Dave and Richard, interestingly enough, have known each other since kindergarten and have been working on music together for 17 years, and Caleb and Nick played together previously as well.  Richard says "David and I, for about the past 5 years, have been trying to get something off the ground."  They were looking for a singer, and Laura came into the mix after she heard some of the music the guys had recorded. "It was completely amazing.  It sounded like what I feel inside of me."says Laura.  She took one of their tracks and recorded some vocals, and the rest is history.  The guys were immediately impressed.  Laura agrees. " We really clicked.  We have very good synergy."
In the coming months, the band will be in the studio, tying up the loose ends of the album.  Expect the finished product sometime in the summer of 2014.  We'll definitely share album on the air at WERU, and maybe we can ask The Feather Lungs to come back for another Wicked Good Music Hour gig?  As we wrapped up the show, bass player Nick gave a special shout out to his grandmother, Stella.  I mean, I liked them already, but a talented musician who also loves grandma?  Smitten.

The Feather Lungs website
The Feather Lungs on Bandcamp
The Feather Lungs on Facebook