John McDonough is a singer/songwriter from Austin, Texas who has spent the last 20 years playing in and around Austin, while co-producing and self-releasing five CDs of original music. He plays acoustic guitar and piano as well as being executive producer on this new release.
His work falls into a modern folk/pop sound and his clear vocal delivery makes these eleven tracks a pleasant listen. Having retired from practicing psychotherapy to focus solely on his music, John has delivered two recent recordings, It’s All Been Said Before in 2012 and this one. Playing the local Austin circuit has honed his skills and the studio band on this release is understated in its playing and interpretation of the songs.
Ginger Leigh on backing vocals adds to the arrangements with her fine voice and the keyboards of Cole Gramung, together with bass and cello from Steve Bernal and drums and guitar from Kevin Butler complete the ensemble. Songs like It’s You and Me, Planes Fly Too Low, Lay Your Burden Down and You Don’t Know This are representative of the tight arrangements and easy melodies on offer here.