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This guy is great
Posted on Amazon.com
Reviewer: A music fan, from Boston, MA
I had the good luck to stumble into a John McVey performance at the Alta ski area in Utah last week. I'd never heard him before. It was an amazing evening – a small audience, snow falling outside and John McVey sitting on a chair with an acoustic guitar. I've seen hundreds of concerts and few have ever much me as much. Later I heard his album, Jigsaw, and was blown away all over again. This guy is a huge talent – a rare combination of great voice, great melodies and real intelligence. This album is a must-own!
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Who IS this guy?
Posted on Amazon.com
Reviewer: Texasexile, from Malvern, PA
OK, get a CD in the mail, new voice, Kerrville something or other, hmmmmm. Put it in the player. Push play. Start dinner. What. Whoa. Sit down. Listen. Start the CD over. Listen again, harder. Whoa again. Who is this guy? Nice press kit. Read everything, start CD over again, several times. Man! Who is this guy? Sounds like Gorka, no Earle, no Kotke, sorta. Who IS THIS GUY? Well, he's wonderful. Dinner abandoned. Listen to whole CD three times and try to find him on the web and see when he's playing near me.
The Boston Globe
Calendar
Feb 4-10 1999
John McVey
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
BWE Music
Having dealt with the collapse of his label, singer/songwriter John McVey is again rising to the top with the help of his Circle of Friends. Combining well-crafted originals with well-considered covers, Circle demonstrates McVey 's writing, arranging and performance talents. A native of New Jersey, it is no surprise that McVey is often compared to the Philly Soul sound of artists such as Daryl Hall (especially on tunes such as "Song of the Night" and One Way Train"). However, as in his impressive reworkings of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," McVey is also able to bring original style to his choices. Though Circle includes a few less substantial love songs, it offers emotional songs such as "Who Do I Write To" and the gently stirring title track, which borrows respectfully from Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." Having played to enthusiastic crowds at the Best of Boston Singer Songwriter Showcase and the Boston Folk Festival, McVey is well on his way to hitting the heights of the acoustic scene.
-MATTHEW S. ROBINSON
WCUW 91.3 FM
CrossTracks
Community Radio For Central New England
Worcester, MA
September 8, 1998
In Studio Interview: John McVey
Host: Richard H. Fox
Today's guest was John McVey , a singer songwriter and performer from Nashville who brought with him two Taylor Guitars, the largest one Taylor makes, for its bass resonance, the smallest for its sweet sound. This was a morning of gremlins in the radio board. Without a bunch of re-cabling, the best solution was to broadcast John through a single microphone. Normally, this would not be an acceptable solution, but John's guitar playing is so strong, full and controlled and his voice blends perfectly. While some folks are difficult to mix on two mics, he did it naturally on one. As a songwriter, John starts with melody first and then works in lyrics. On his recording "Circle of Friends," he also includes a couple covers. He chose to begin his visit with his interpretation of the Lennon-McCartney tune "I Want to Hold Your Hand." When I asked why he picked that Beatles tune to record, he related how he was working with guitar phrasings and they suggested the song's lyrics to him. His rendition is a departure from the original and ties in well with his songwriting style; his process picking the cover rather than a conscious choice to do a song. In studio, John's performance was dynamic and genuine. He plays with real passion, his rich voice and soaring guitar combining for a full sound. His lyrics are insightful, literate and well crafted. John will be appearing at Johnny D's tonight and at both the Boston Folk Festival and the area's best house concert series, Fox Run, on Saturday. On a gray morning filled with gremlins, John gave us reason to smile to start our day here in Metro Worcester.
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Boyd Petersen
Promoter, Timpanogos Intimate Concert Series.
Provo, UT
John McVey is a risk taker. Not only did he give up a secure life and career to pursue his need to make music, he takes risks musically too. And they work!
McVey is a crowd pleaser. His charisma, humor and boyish good looks are enough to draw a crowd and capture an audience. But McVey 's got substance behind the image. His vocals are warm and inviting and his guitar work is stunning. It's the songs, though, that are the clinchers: hook laden, lyrically subsantive and musically provocative.
Above all, McVey is passionate. His songs are hopeful without being sappy, deep without being pretentious and he sings them with the conviction of a true believer.
Winfield Courier
Winfield, KS
April '99
Nashville Songwriter to play Winfield
Even when he is on stage by himself, John McVey views music as a group effort.
"Each show isn't just about the performer," he said in a recent inteerview while on the way to a writing session. "It's about the audience as well, and I love that about shows. It's kind of a cooperative effort."
The upbeat and energetic performer will meet his first Winfield audience at 7 p.m. Thursday in the First National Bank of Winfield lobby. The concert is part of the ongoing FNB Coffehouse Music Series. Tickets are $6 in advance or $8 at the door. They are on sale now at First National Bank and The Main Course.
Like his firiends and fellow Nashville songwriters Tom Kimmel, Michael Lille and Buddy Mondlock, McVey has a sound that is hard to call folk. Rock and soul sounds figure prominently into McVey 's music. On his CD "Circle of Friends," that meant including horns, backup singers and all kinds of instrumentation.
Even so, McVey said his songs always begin with him, by himself, and he likes taking them to audiences that way.
"It's very important to me to be able to do it by myself, to be able to write with just the guitar and the vocal, because that's where the juice is," McVey said. "If you can't do that, then no matter what production ou have on it, it's not going to make it a good song."
Writing good songs has brought a great deal of attention to McVey . His ia a past winner of the prestigious Kerrville New Folk award. He has toured with Lari White. In 1996, he was the National Academy of Songwriters' Acoustic Artist of the Year.
Winning at Kerrville – an annual Texas music festival – was especially meaningful to McVey . He said it's a supportive, noncompetitive place that rewards people who know the craft of songwriting well. Songwriters need that kind of support, he said.
"How cool is it to have a place where craft is important and not commercial success?" he asked. "How cool would it have been for people like Van Gogh to have had a place like Kerrville where they could go and all their peers could say, 'Man, you rock.' It's a tremendous institution."
Going back to be a judge at Kerrville was also an eye-opening experience for McVey . He admitted that he can be pigheaded when it comes to certain styles of music, but judging challenged him to look beyond that.
"When you're a judge you have to completely let go of stylistic preferences," he said. "It opens you up a little bit to the fact that all styles have a place."
Organizers of the concert have said that McVey 's appeal crosses generations. If you have kids who think they don't like acoustic music, bring them to Thursday's show.
McVey agreed that teens have seemed to connect with his music. He found that to be true last year when he did a week-long residency at his former boarding school in New Hampshire.
"They are definitely open to it. They love live music," he said. "They're for the most part a little skewed toward newer kinds of music, like rap and hip-hop and music that has those elements in it. But, boy oh boy, they sure have latched onto what I do and there's nothing better than that."
McVey said he was particularly looking forward to the concert in Winfield. "We'll have some fun," he said. I've never played in a bank before… I can't wait."
