Artist of the Day: Andy McBride with "Shipyard Soul" (+ Exclusive Interview)

With some fierce cross harp playing and a mean acoustic guitar is Andy McBride on “Hearts in a Hurricane.” The instrumentation on the song has a folky vibe to it thanks to the great bluesy harmonica playing and is made unique by vocals that have a punk feel to them. Some might call it outlaw country and some might call it anti-folk. Whatever the genre is, it’s lovable and anthemic. The harmonica (played mostly by C.J. Lee) is enough to catch just about anyone’s attention because it is wailing and riffing away on the track. The harmonica player bends to hit blue notes and speeds up to excite all who listen. Andy McBride’s vocal delivery is the captivating kind that makes audience members raise their fists in the air and shout the lyrics at the top of their lungs. The song is acoustically driven but it sure feels like true rock n’ roll.

The exciting song comes from McBride’s debut solo record titled “Shipyard Soul.” The record has several different sounding songs, with different groves and paces, to keep it interesting from start to finish. Fans of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan will definitely enjoy the work of Andy McBride. The record could be enjoyed on Spotify. Get captivated:

Exclusive Interview with Andy McBride:

RTP: Please tell Rock the Pigeon fans something about the song “Hearts in A Hurricane.”

AM: “Hearts In A Hurricane” was probably one of the easiest songs I have ever written once the first couple of lines were there the rest of the lyrics and melody fell out very quickly.

RTP: When did you write your first song and what was it about? What was it called?

AM: I actually took to guitar relatively late in life compared to most around [age] 21/22 but as soon as I knew 2 chords I just wanted to write my owns songs the first song was probably something terrible about cowboys, I’m sure.

RTP: What’s your favorite part of being a songwriter?

AM: It would have to be that it’s something you can do completely on your own and at times can be very therapeutic I guess it’s also nice to bring something into some form out of not much more than your own thoughts.

RTP: Where did you learn to play the harmonica like that and how would you compare the learning process versus learning guitar?

AM: I’m still learning! But getting there slowly…much of the harmonica on the Shipyard Soul record was by a good friend of mine C.J. Lee who has been helping me pick it up its certainly a lot less painful than learning guitar was.