Megan King - Singer/Songwriter
It would be kind of ridiculous to try and type up this bio in the third person, so I’m just going to try and persuade you to be interested in the first person.
I (Megan King- in case you forgot whose site you are looking at) am a Hoosier native. I currently live and play music primarily in Northern Indiana, and have been doing so for the past 12 years. I’m not pretentious about music venues, and play for large and small audiences- from the Electric Brew in quaint Goshen, Indiana (I love those Goshen music hippies) to opening for Roger McGuinn & Todd Snider at the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival, and Miche Fambro, The Guggenheim Grotto, and Chic Gamine at C2G concert hall in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I just love name dropping.
Several questions that people like to ask when they hear you play music are:
1. “What do you sound like?” <I think you mean (and when I say you, it’s the you that this only applies to, and you know who YOU are…) WHO do you sound like>
- 2. “What’s your favorite style of music?” <Again, either we are still having small talk, or you really want to know what’s most played on my IPOD>
- 3. “Why did you start playing?” <Another, invasive question that is ambiguous and difficult to answer…>
SO, that all said, I’m going to try and address all of this, and then when people I don’t know randomly ask me these questions, I will curtly refer them to my website and my imaginary agent, put on my dark shades and walk away like the star that I am (bahahahahahaha!). If I ever do that, I invite perfect strangers to throw things at me.
What do I sound like?
Well, since you’ve taken the time to come to my website (thank you, sincerely, thank you), I would suggest that you click on the “Listen” link and make your own creative assumptions as to who I sound like. I’ve heard anything from Sarah McLachlan, the Wilson sisters, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Jewel and Patsy Cline! The latest I was asked was if I ever considered singing “Death Metal.” I think people can kind of equate me to any chick with a guitar. But come on now, I’m not just any chick with a guitar. Mine is a Gibson Hummingbird (and it’s real purdy), so get it straight.
What is my favorite style of music?
I’m a musical dinosaur. My favorite music ranges from instrumental piano, classic folk, traditional folk (I love me some Irish tunes… but not cheesy awful overly traditional music- put some creativity into it- anyone can memorize some sheet music or aural melodies… ok, maybe not ANYONE, but it’s not exciting). Some of my favorite musicians are Over the Rhine, Leonard Cohen, Flook, Neil Young, The Guess Who, Patty Griffin, Jeff Buckley, U2, Eva Cassidy, Miles Davis, The Guggenheim Grotto (go listen to them now if you haven’t), Muse, Jeffrey Foucault, Greg Brown, Tom Waits, Chris Thile, Bob Dylan, Wilco, The Sounds (really fun), Nick Drake, Zach Williams (touring with Ben Folds right now) and several others that I can’t think of right now, because it’s like going through a library with no catalog system. I tend to listen to the same songs/CD’s over and over again, because when I like something I don’t grow tired of it. If it weren’t for my good friend Brad, I would have no knowledge of new music out there (thanks Brad- you life saver).
Why did I Start Playing?
This is going to sound political, but I think music has always been in me. I was born that way. ;) But when I was little, my family didn’t really have the extra funds to pay for lessons or the like, so I started by tinkering around on a piano when I was in grade school. I really liked singing, but was nothing extraordinary in choir. I think I was just too shy to let it out. I have never liked people I don’t know staring at me. (Come on, it is kind of weird). But because the music is in me, I’ve never been scared on stage either. I love it. It’s like a compulsion that I have to follow. I would guess that without music I might be in a mental institute. Some people take drugs- I play music. I just may shy away after the show, and again direct you to my “online biography” because so far it is very intriguing.
I’ve always journalled, and when I got into high school I really got into romantic poetry. This started my ability with “iambic pentameter” which ultimately led to some song writing when I taught myself to play guitar at 16. Within 3 weeks of playing the guitar, I had written my first song, and thus the saga continued until today, when I am writing a strange biography in which I’m trying to capture the very atom of my creative existence and failing miserably.
So if you really want to know why I started- know that it’s in my blood, it’s in my aching moments at my 8-5 job, it’s in my heart while I sleep, it’s in every sunrise and set, in every song I pour sweat and tears into, every broken moment where I feel life is just too much, every holy moment in which I want to kiss the ground and shout to the heavens… I started, and now I can’t stop. So go listen, and I hope you enjoy.
Megan