It was hard at the beginning to create Singacoustic as a showcase featuring local singer-songwriters, and the process wasn’t fun. Sitting in my home office late at night and listening to endless songs from those who submitted their credentials through the online form we have on the website was excruciating and painful at times. I once heard a 6 minutes song of humming, without a single word and they insist on calling themselves songwriters. I understand that art is subjective but, don’t you think there should be lyrics in songwriting?
By the third Singacoustic showcase I found that the process of finding that hidden talent that stays very local to its core is becoming easier as we keep producing more Singacoustic shows, and it’s all due to the help of the artists that became part of Singacoustic and their recommendations of other singer-songwriters they know and share the stage and that is much easier than listening to a humming tune.
A while back I asked Dave Haberman from Crawdad Republic to recommend a few singer-songwriters and one of the names he sent me was Meredith McHenry. I didn’t get the chance to check her name up since I already had booked the artists I needed for the Singacoustic 2 showcase and when the time came to the scheduling of Singacoustic 3&4, I looked over the list of artists recommended and Meredith Mchenry’s name popped up again. I started my research, website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (is it dead yet) and I was fascinated by her singing style and great vocals that I had to reach out to her. Filled with great excitement, I sent Meredith McHenry a text on a Monday morning, and I was so pleased to hear back from her that it sounds great and she would love to participate. Awesomeness!. Thank you universe!
My initial reach out to Meredith McHenry.
By that time, I was working on the production of Both, Singacoustic 3&4 and the initial plan was to have Meredith McHenry on our Singacoustic3 but it did not quite work out that way and I’m so glad that we ended up with her on Singacoustic 4 since the Singacoustic 3 was canceled due to artists illness.
Throughout our pre-production discussions, it was revealed to me that she is a great Piano player, but not quite the Guitar player for an entire set, and suggested being accompanied by a great friend and amazing musician Michael Scott and it just kept on getting better. I do love it when a singer is accompanied by one or two more musicians, as it adds fullness to the song. I knew that it is going to be an awesome set.
On the day of the show, I was finally able to meet Meredith and Michael, two of the sweetest and most talented musicians I have met. I was quite busy with the production that I didn’t get the chance to really listen to the sound check, I was there with lots of technical issues we had but we prevailed and it was showtime. For Meredith’s first song (How To Kill A Love), she gave us a taste of her strong and wonderful voice. A voice, so powerful and full of rich frequencies that fill your eardrums with happiness and force you to pay attention, a voice so commanding with gentleness and wickedness.
How To Kill A Love, Meredith McHenry
Watch the entire video on our Youtube channel
Watching Michael Scott play his acoustic guitar was great, he is such an amazing musician. He played various instruments, a shy person with undetectable raw energy that you feel in his style of guitar playing. Michael played the guitar with such passion as he would hold it in an upright position while putting his ear to the body of the guitar and listening to it while gently picking the strings. Thank you, Michael Scott, you are one phenomenal musician and it was an honor meeting you. You are one to remember.
With the second song (Patriarchy Patsy), Meredith let loose her vocals and sent out shock waves through the building with her brilliant style and incredible ability to manipulate her vocals tastefully. Absolutely brilliant. Patriarchy Patsy is an amazing song with a strong political statement about the fundamentals of women’s system in a society in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
Wait. Aren’t we in the year 2023? Why the confusion? Woman’s Rights Are Human Rights. It is that simple.
Meredith closed the short set with yet, another tasty song. “Break My Heart” is another example of Meredith’s wickedness in her singing style. A song that is full of emotions and passion that makes you visualize the lyrics in your own thoughts. A song she sang masterfully.
Meredith is an accomplished and well-educated musician. She attended Las Positas College in Livermore and Cal State East Bay in Hayward. Meredith holds an AA in music, and a BA in Psychology, with a minor in musical performance. But as every great musician would say, Meredith claims, and I quote “ Most of my education has been in the real world”.
Thank you, Meredith McHenry, for your stunning performance. Singacoustic was created for singer-songwriters like you. You are a STAR! Cheers!
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