John McDonough

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Second Chances

Self-Released, 2021

8/10

Listen to Second Chances

A longtime Austin singer-songwriter with a healthy amount of records under his belt and a penchant for engaging storytelling and proficient guitar work, Second Chances culls songs from 2014’s Dreams And Imagination and 2016’s Surrounding Colors in an unplugged setting.

“The Place Where I Belong” starts the listen with warm, graceful acoustic strumming as McDonough’s timeless folk quality enters the poetic atmosphere, and “Tonight’s The Night” follows with an expressive and vocally more firm display of rugged yet melodic song craft.

The middle tracks bring us the powerful, emotive “Nowhere Else To Run”, while “I’m Home” emits much restraint in its beautiful yet bare delivery. “Give Me One More Day To Say Goodbye”, one of the standout tracks, then showcases intricate guitar work amid eloquent wordplay as McDonough’s skills resonate with much authenticity.

Landing near the end, “Planes Fly Too Low” brings some of the best singing on the album as subtle strings add much to the mood, and “You Don’t Know This” exits the listen with plenty of intimacy, where sparse but effective musicianship leaves us wishing the album was longer than 10 tracks.

For many of us, this will be our first experience with McDonough’s work, and it’s a hell of an introduction as the troubadour takes an unwanted break from performing live to record this very passionate and well thought out listen that displays Kris Farrow’s guitar prowess and Cody Rathmell’s backing vocals, too.

Travels well with: The Rough & Tumble- We’re Only Family If You Say So; Ryanhood- Under The Leaves