On The Verge

Megan McCormick

Photo by Angela Kohler

Nashville, Tenn.
Honest Words
www.myspace.com/meganmccormicksmusic

You might say it all started with “Little Brown Jug”—that’s the first song Megan McCormick’s grandmother taught her to play soon after she presented the eight year old with a guitar. With a family that routinely jammed on songs ranging from Hank Williams Jr. to Loretta Lynn and beyond, you might say music is McCormick’s birthright. “I think it was totally in my blood,” says McCormick who spent the first 14 years of her life in Idaho before moving with her parents to Alaska. “As a kid, I pictured myself doing what I’m doing now—not in a dreamy ‘I want to be a rock star’ kind of way, but as a serious musician. I never thought of doing anything else.” After convincing her mother to let her be home schooled and take the GED exam, McCormick secretly obtained a scholarship and admission to Eastern Tennessee University at age 16. Happenstance led McCormick to play a Nashville gig with legendary music publisher David Conrad in attendance. McCormick’s blues-infused indie rock can now be heard on her new debut Honest Words. “This is exactly what I signed up for—this is exactly where I wanted to be for so many years,” she says. “This [release] isn’t the destination. It’s an extremely important milestone and a monumental place to be in my life—but I have a long way I want to go.”