About JD McPherson
Jonathan David "JD" McPherson , is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He is known for a retro sound rooted in the rock and roll, rockabilly, and rhythm and blues music of the 1950s. Among influences such as Little Richard and Fats Domino, McPherson also draws inspiration from artists as diverse as the Wu-Tang Clan, Pixies, and Led Zeppelin.
McPherson was born as the youngest child in his family in rural southeastern Oklahoma, growing up on the family's cattle ranch near the town of Talihina. His father was a farmer and ex-army, while his mother was a church minister. He took up the guitar at age 13. In high school, he played in a number of local punk rock bands and began writing his own songs. He has stated that he has always been in a band of some sort since he was 16 years old.
Of his youth growing up in a quiet rural area, he said that this allowed him to involve himself in the pursuit of music:
But where I actually grew up was just completely removed from anything resembling a town or a city. It was an hour away from the nearest supermarket. What that granted me was a lot of isolation and when you are bored you tend to work really hard on your interests. I was granted a lot of opportunity to play the guitar, listen to music and read about music. So it probably would have been a different story if I grew up in a town somewhere.
During this time, McPherson also developed a strong interest in 1950s rock and roll after being exposed to the music of Buddy Holly. This went on to shape his song writing and sound for bands he was in such as The Poison Okies and The Starkweather Boys.
He studied visual arts in college, earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tulsa, and later worked as an art and technology teacher. McPherson taught middle school art for four years before embarking on a music career, later remarking that he loved teaching but did not enjoy the bureaucratic aspects of the job. As McPherson stated, "It feels like another life now... It taught me that I'm a terrible employee. I actually really enjoyed the teaching part of it, but wallowing in the mire of administrivia is not a thing I'm very good at."
After deciding to pursue music more seriously, McPherson sent a demo to Jimmy Sutton of the small independent record label Hi-STYLE Records, which specialized in roots music. Sutton agreed to produce McPherson's debut album, a process that ultimately led to 2010's Signs and Signifiers. After its wider release through Rounder Records, Rolling Stone gave Signs and Signifiers a 3½ star review in November 2012 and labelled McPherson an "Artist to Watch."
Map & Directions To Venue
