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Florida-born singer-songwriter Michael McArthur talks first full-length album

Michael McArthur. Photo: Matthew Peddie, WMFE
Michael McArthur. Photo: Matthew Peddie, WMFE

Florida-born singer-songwriter and musician Michael McArthur joins Intersection to discuss his first full-length album, Ever Green, Ever Rain

The Lakeland-based performer says he created the album after a difficult year of touring and feeling creatively stuck.

“2017 was sort of probably the most difficult 12 months of my life. It’s all relative to your perspective situation, but everybody’s had a most difficult 12 months. 2017 was mine,” McArthur says.

McArthur says he decided to take a break from being on the road. He wrote about 50 songs, then drove cross-country from Florida to California, to record the album in four days with Grammy-winning producer Ryan Freeland.

“I took a step back, and that was the best thing I could’ve done because now I feel more clear about what I’m doing than I ever have,” McArthur says.

The performer points to singer-songwriters like James Taylor, Bill Withers and Bruce Springsteen as inspirations for his own career.

“Those are huge shoes to fill, but if I could even just get a small percentage of what they have in terms of what they’ve accomplished with their art then that would be a success for me,” McArthur says.

Michael McArthur performs at the Polk Theater in Lakeland on Jan. 26.

Click on the links below to hear We Live & We Die, Warmer Months and Rest's Unknown

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[audio mp3="https://www.wmfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/warmer_months.mp3"][/audio]

 

[audio mp3="https://www.wmfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/we_live_we_die.mp3"][/audio]