JD McPherson

Socks: A Rock N Roll Christmas tour

with Joel Patterson

Wednesday, December 13 at The Fine Line

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JD McPherson

Hailing from Broken Arrow, OK, JD McPherson has recorded four studio albums and toured extensively at venues worldwide, including festival sets at Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and Newport Folk Festival, among many others. Rolling Stone has described his music as “Timeless, forward-thinking rock & roll.” His 2017 LP, Undivided Heart & Soul, was released to widespread critical acclaim with NPR praising, “McPherson’s mastery of rock and soul fundamentals is beyond question, but his voice moves in wild ways on these songs, and the band exudes a new kind of risky energy.”

McPherson was born as the youngest child, growing up on the family’s cattle ranch near the town of Talihina. His father was a farmer, while his mother was a church minister. He took up the guitar at age 13.

“Where I actually grew up was just completely removed from anything resembling a town or a city. It was an hour away from the nearest supermarket. What that granted me was a lot of isolation and when you are bored you tend to work really hard on your interests. So it probably would have been a different story if I grew up in a town somewhere.”

He studied visual arts in college, earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tulsa, and later worked as an art and technology teacher. McPherson taught middle school art for four years before embarking on a music career.

After deciding to pursue music more seriously, McPherson sent a demo to Jimmy Sutton of the small independent record label Hi-STYLE Records, which specialized in roots music. This was the start of a process that ultimately led to 2010's Signs and Signifiers. After its wider release through Rounder Records, Rolling Stone gave Signs and Signifiers a 3½ star (out of 5) review in November 2012 and labeled McPherson an "Artist to Watch."

McPherson’s sophomore LP, Let The Good Times Roll, was released on Rounder Records in 2015, showing McPherson with a wider musical range and an even stronger ability to weave the present with the past.

In 2018 McPherson released his breakthrough debut Christmas album, SOCKS, featuring 11 all-original Christmas songs, the album received overwhelming critical praise…

“JD McPherson is a vivid reinterpreter of the strutting rock ’n’ roll of the 1950s. His holiday album, SOCKS, is a collection of original songs with startlingly original conceits.”

- The New York Times

“SOCKS overflows with vintage rock & roll tidings of comfort and joy…You could easily fool someone into thinking you discovered a gem of an album from 60 years ago."

- Rolling Stone

“It’s not really much of a contest, in the end: McPherson’s album is so far ahead of the rest of the 2018 pack, everyone else is having to eat his Christmas dust.”

- Variety

Joel Patterson

Joel Paterson has been a mainstay of the Chicago roots music scene for over twenty years, playing with many bands and showcasing his unique blend jazz, blues, rockabilly, country and western swing. Joel can be heard on the recordings of the Cactus Blossoms, JD McPherson, Kelly Hogan, Pokey LaFarge, and Deke Dickerson.

The all-acoustic, 1920s-tinged Wheelhouse Rag (2023) may at first seem like a departure in genre for the guitarist—He is predominantly known for his instrumental multitracked recordings reminiscent of Les Paul and Chet Atkins—but Joel learned to play guitar by ear from the records of acoustic legends such as Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, and Big Bill Broonzy.

Joel later expanded his repertoire to include techniques of the thumb-picking giants Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. These influences can be heard throughout the album, mixed in with many more twists and turns from the mind of the artist, to bring you, Wheelhouse Rag, the original finger-style guitar instrumentals of Joel Paterson.