Culture
Nashville Singer-Songwriter To Perform at OU’s Front Room
By: Bryan Gibson
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As a self-proclaimed "child of the midwest," Thursday's Front Room performance will be a somewhat of a homecoming for Nashville singer-songwriter David Story.
The Indiana born-and-raised Story has performed his beguiling blend of pop melody and folk sensibility in 20 countries, and there's no sign of slowing down. He recorded his first two albums in 2007 and has been pursuing a music career ever since.
"Music has played a major role in my life for as long as I can remember," he said. "I grew up singing in church, and eventually started a band with my brother in high school, but it wasn't until I was about 21 that I decided that making music was what I was going to do for a living."
That's not to say that it's been easy all this time. Life as an independent touring musician definitely has its challenges.
"I would say it's equal parts grit, grind, and glamour," he said. "Notice that two-thirds of that is grit and grind. I never have to clock in to work, which means that I never clock out either."
As a solo independent artist, Story is literally a one-man band, taking care of all the chores that a manager would normally do–booking shows, marketing his music, keeping track of finances and so on.
"And the pay is pretty dismal, too," he quipped. "But there is absolutely nothing else I would rather be doing, no matter the salary. I've met a lot of great people along the way, and the pinch-yourself experiences always make the grit and the grind worthwhile."
Story's latest release is a single titled, "Second Great War," which tells the story of two brothers from Tennessee who get drafted during World War II.
"'Second Great War' is something of a watershed moment in my meager music career," he said. "It represents a shift in my songwriting style to something much more focused and narrative. I also feel that it best represents the sound that I've been striving to capture for a long time. It's not intended to be political or patriotic or protesting, but I think it could be heard as any one of those three. I simply wanted to tell a story, and leave it up to the listener to derive their own meaning."
Thursday's show will be Story's second Athens performance, having played at Donkey Coffee last year.
"That was a fun night, even though it was on Easter weekend and the crowd was sparse," he said. "I shared the bill with OU's own Rachel Figley, which was a delight. That's one of the perks of touring; I get to meet great singer-songwriters everywhere I go. And Athens seems to have a lot of them."
David Story will perform at Ohio University's Front Room in Baker University Center at 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.davidstorymusic.com.