NYSC ARTIST PROFILE: ZACH HURD
I’ve met a lot of incredibly talented artists in the nine months I’ve been a part of the NYSC family. It’s been such an honor, thrill, and joy to get a backstage view of the most gifted people in the independent music industry. The caliber not only of these artists’ music, but also of their hearts as human beings, has left me wondering what’s in the water around here…whatever it is I wish more people in this industry would drink it.
Now I know that it’s not necessarily good…or journalistic...to play favorites…but I can’t help it. Zach Hurd, a singer-songwriter originally from a small town in Maine, and member of the growing NYSC community of artists, is one of my favorites I’ve met so far. His music hypnotizes. It’s perfect for rainy days, for introspective days, for road trip days….ok there aren’t many days I wouldn’t listen to this stuff. Soothing and poetic, and clearly influenced by Dylan, Hornsby, and Taylor, Zach’s music also has well-placed quirk (I hear these cute little claps in my head sometimes, and I blame “Step Behind” fully). Listen to it and tell me it doesn’t follow you on your morning commute.
Looking Back…
Music tends to be born in people. Zach, who grew up with musical parents, can trace it back over two decades. When he was four or five, he remembers hearing his mother sing around the house. “I used to think my mom was Aretha Franklin,” Zach says. “Hearing her sing was always this really powerful thing.” He began taking piano lessons around that time too…but they didn’t last long. “Dude would watch cartoons [during my lessons],” he laughs. Clearly already a “serious” musician, Zach left Mr. Cartoons behind and started teaching himself “diddies” on his grandmother’s piano.
Playing by ear provided an outlet for a lot of growing-up “stuff”. It was seventh grade. He had just moved. New school, new town, new electric guitar. “I felt very alone and music was something I really kinda grabbed onto,” Zach says. At an age when most kids are thinking about baseball practice or next week’s school dance, Zach Hurd was already thinking about his future in music. He told just a couple of his closest friends, keeping his dreams mostly to himself for a time. “I was pretty private with it…it’s always come from a pretty vulnerable place,” Zach says.
On the process…
In the years since junior high, Zach’s writing process has stayed pretty private. He usually writes alone, and tends to vamp on chords he likes while singing total gibberish over them until something that makes sense “comes out”. This made for some potentially embarrassing moments growing up – “I’m sure one of my sisters probably heard me,” he laughs.
“More times than not, I don’t know what I’m going to write about,” says Zach. “Certain phrases come out that I latch onto.” Zach has three goals when writing – to like it, to paint a clear picture, and to stay focused in the song. “The sad comes easier.” (I think that’s what I love about Zach’s songs – I’m a sucker for musical depression. Add a few of those claps and a couple more upbeat tunes and you’ve got my ideal album.)
Zach’s advice for other songwriters? Look back over your old stuff. “It made me cringe,” Zach says of his last walk down his own musical memory lane. “But it’s allowed me to understand that if you keep doing it, you are going to get better. Keep working at it.” Every artist is their own worst critic, but eventually you write a song you are proud of…and it’s worth the crap it took you to get there. Like “Small Places” – Zach still gets chills when he sings it. “Music connects us with something that’s bigger,” he says. “Bigger than the normal day to day or 9 to 5.”
Looking ahead…
Having just released his first full-length album, “Changing Landscapes”, in September, this year looks pretty busy for Zach Hurd. (To those of you in the NYC area, he’s got several upcoming gigs so check him out!!). And as far as the NYSC goes, we hope he will continue to bless all of us with his music.
http://www.zachhurd.com/
www.myspace.com/zhurd
“[The NYSC] is definitely a supportive community. It’s been cool just to see other types of songwriters and to hear new artists that are doing the same thing I’m doing. It’s inspiration to want to keep doing it. You’re bound to find some songwriters that you connect with.” -Zach Hurd
