Here’s a sultry, moving track from Americana blues-man John Egan.
This live clip is of "Man I'll Never Be,” a song featured on his seventh album, Magnolia City which released in April 2017. It’s performed live at the Club House Studio in Austin, Texas March of 2017 during SXSW.
The National steel guitarist returns to his musical roots with a raw, stripped down album that pays homage to his hometown and artistic influences: Townes Van Zandt and Chris Whitley. Egan wrote and recorded "Man I'll Never Be" over 20 years ago for his debut album (1995). He re-recorded a stark, raw version for his seventh album, Magnolia City, as the song still resonates today.
Egan shares, "I wrote this song about the elusive idea of accepting someone as they are and the difficulties of a relationship - where one person tries to change the other. It's an emotional subject I feel most people can identify with. Playing a National Resonator on a song like this seems to add a certain weight and mystery.The guitar sounds like it has a reverb chamber hidden inside, giving it a haunting, magic quality that I love."
Watch it here:
With Magnolia City, Egan returns to his musical roots while paying homage to his hometown of Houston. Released April 7, 2017, the ten song, self-produced collection features Egan’s raw vocals, boot stomping rhythms, and highlights his fierce, signature National steel guitar stylings.
The collection of songs on Magnolia City resonates with the sparest of formats while touching on themes related to the ethereal and the elusive.
Egan was born in Connecticut but moved to Houston as a child. His dad, also John Egan, had an 11-year career as a NBA point guard with the Houston Rockets. Egan’s passion for his city's past is reflected in the album title, as Houston was once referred to as the Magnolia City harkening back to a time where magnificent magnolia groves once stood before the development and expansion of the recent decades.
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