Every so often a songwriter comes along that injects you with a feeling that is incomparable to what most of the songs out there are able to do in this day and age. Sure, there are songs you can bob your head to, or tap your feet, or even songs that are so well written they stick with you for a while. Then there are songs that are presented in such a way that they burrow deep underneath your skin and take root inside of your veins. They keep digging each time you hear them until you can feel them creaking inside of your bone marrow and the only way to get rid of the tension is to hear them again and again. Nothing else will quite do the trick.
Will Houlihan writes and performs songs that do this. Last Friday Will was playing at a rowdy, local Somerville bar. This particular bar is a great supporter of local musicians, however, the type of music played there may not necessarily elicit a “let’s all shut up and see how these songs make us feel” kind of an atmosphere. The second the first chord of his song “Vampyre” rang out, the entire bar shut their mouths and just stared until the song was over and erupted into applause. I was in the corner of the room, nearly move to tears at how incredible gorgeous this man’s music is. In a river of songwriters absolutely flooded and rising above the banks, Houlihan’s music is the life raft that serves as a sanctuary from the tumult. This is special, this is wonderful, this is exactly what I want to listen to when I say “I am going to listen to great music”.
When Ian Fitzgerald came to me with that song that made everyone shut up in that tiny bar for the first Locals Covering Locals record I knew immediately that Will would be on the follow up project. When I tell myself that the purpose of this project is to exhibit people’s songs and interpretations of their favorite songs that need be heard, it is obvious that Will Houlihan sits very high on the top of that list. These are people that I think NEED to heard covering songwriters that they feel NEED to be heard.
I truly cannot wait to see what this artist comes up with for a cover song and to be in the studio to watch the magic unfold.
Welcome to the Locals Covering Locals family (from the other end) my friend!