 "Photo: Photo Courtesy of Erin McCarley")
Erin McCarley underestimated the mass appeal of her achingly personal songs. Before her album even debuted, her music was being used to capture peak moments of young-adult angst and sorrow in “One Tree Hill,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.” McCarley is set to play with Matt Nathanson and Jack’s Mannequin in Austin this weekend.
Love, Save the Empty, the indie songstress’s debut album, was released Jan. 6, the same day she performed on David Letterman.
“I was freaked out and so nervous and excited at the same time,” McCarley said. “It was definitely a career peak because my record came out that day, and I had a record release party that night, so Letterman was in the middle of all that. It was a crazy day in New York.”
Her album is a seamlessly produced set of 11 songs, chronicling the self-realization of a woman who has been in the depths of love and tossed back out. They range from heartrending and stirring (“Pitiful”) to quirky and cynical (“Blue Suitcase”), representing the dual personality of McCarley.
The songs mostly stem from eye-opening experiences and an abundance of heartache. Growing up in a very happy, stable household in Garland, Texas, McCarley constructed a false sense of reality that ultimately shattered when she left her hometown.
“Once you get out of the house and school, you start becoming your own adult and figuring out your own passions and ideals. It all sets in,” she said. “I had a lot of really serious relationships at a young age, so a lot of songs come from being so emotionally attached at such a young age and the ideals of love, of what they were then and what they are now. This record was drawing from the past and present.”
McCarley moved to San Diego after college — being surrounded by musicians there helped her discover her passion for songwriting. She began seeking a producer who possessed the right balance of professionalism and creativity, but none fit the criteria until she met producer/writer/keyboardist Jamie Kenney.
“I went through a handful of producers — it was like a dating process,” McCarley said. “When I met Jamie, I played a few songs for him, and we bounced off back and forth so easily. He had almost the exact vision in his head of what was in my mine for me.”
Kenney suggested they try it out for a week in Nashville, no strings attached, to see what could happen. The weeklong effort resulted in two tracks, “Pony (It’s Ok)” and “Sleepwalking,” as well as a musical partnership — Kenny ended up producing and co-writing the album.
And so her career took off. She spent the majority of last year on the road and joined the Hotel Café Tour with Meiko, Ingrid Michaelson, Priscilla Ahn and other female artists. At shows, various people approached McCarley and confessed that her songs affected them deeply. It’s not surprising, as McCarley has a way of connecting with her fans at shows.
“When I was writing the album, I didn’t necessarily know if anyone would even connect to it,” McCarley said. “I wasn’t writing it for it to be massively heard, but once I started making the record, I felt like it was relatable.”
As a teenager, McCarley dreamt of being a dancer in a music video, but the video she ended up starring in was her own. For her single “Love, Save the Empty,” she roams the streets of Paris holding a goldfish in a jar.
McCarley recounted the incident: “Twenty minutes before I went to perform on Leno, my manager called and asked, ‘Do you want to go to Paris and shoot the video?’ The last thing I wanted to do was make another video that’s just my face singing to the camera, but they were pretty adamant about doing it. I had to do something quirky, so they suggested holding a goldfish. There were five of us who did it from 8 a.m. until 2 a.m. It was freezing cold and hysterical because none of us knew French or had been to Paris, but I think the outcome is pretty incredible.”
For now, McCarley is focused on touring and trying to write songs for her next record. “It’s definitely something I’m learning right now, being on the road. Before I had no schedule — I could write whenever I wanted to. Now I’m around people constantly, and I never have time to myself.”
3 comments