Anthony McCarthy hails from Portland, Oregon and brings with him the astonishing ability to touch the hearts of his listeners. This singer-songwriter plays a mean acoustic guitar as well as piano, approaching his style with a mix of folky, soulful, pop rock offerings, presenting poignant melodies and heartfelt lyrics.

 

Anthony McCarthy’s fascination and love of music started at a very young age. Growing up listening to both his parents singing, playing guitar and hearing them harmonize with one another, was something McCarthy describes as the most hypnotic and mesmerizing of all his childhood memories. And that moment planted the seed of all things to come for McCarthy. Anthony was always encouraged by his family to sing songs for friends and relatives. He was a natural little performer, acting and singing his way through grade school. But it wasn’t until he was a teenager did he start to hone in on a form of music that really inspired him to study an instrument and start writing his own songs - Rock and Roll. And once he found guitar, he couldn’t seem to put it down.

 

With his teenage rebellious streak, Grunge could not have come at a better time for McCarthy. Bands like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins was music that spoke to him. Something that he could connect with as a listener, an ideal that McCarthy tries to hold true with his own music. With youth comes young love, and with love inevitably comes heart brake. With that first heart break, McCarthy started exploring the older classics, studying the subtle intricacies of a Beatles’ love song, the poetic brashness of The Doors and the poignant, bitter sweet lyrics of a Bob Dylan song. All these accumulated into some of Anthony’s first inspiration to be a singer songwriter.

 

Along with just learning guitar growing up, McCarthy also studied piano, sang in his high school choirs, performed in musicals, and founded the garage-funk band - The Rhythm Pimps, a band which is currently on their 4th studio album release. After high school McCarthy studied Music Composition in Seattle at Cornish Collage of the Arts and later went on to graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in Music Comp. back in Eugene Oregon. Anthony also went on to compose the entire soundtrack for “Earth Day”, an independent horror movie about hippies. He’s written jingles and done voice-over work for Northwest Media of Eugene. He has also starred in numerous roles at Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene. Roles that include the young affable Tobias Ragg in SWEENEY TODD, Che the Narrator in EVITA and Leo Bloom in THE PRODUCERS, a role where he actually got to play along side his father Bruce McCarthy who played Max Bialystock during the run.

 

After years of playing and touring the Pacific Northwest with his band The Rhythm Pimps and sitting in with other local bands, McCarthy is now trying to gain momentum as a solo artist. And after years of handing out his own acoustic demo CDs to friends and fans wherever he played, McCarthy is finally out promoting his first true solo album titled - JUST A DREAM. (An album ten years in the making. Ten years to fully realize that is, and two years to produce.) To record JUST A DREAM, McCarthy played all the instruments i.e. guitar, grand piano, organ, bass, even kazoo! With the exception of his friend Conant Townsend who laid down the drums and percussion, and a few female harmonies, Anthony McCarthy played and produced the bulk of it himself.

Throughout McCarthy’s musical career he has always viewed music as a companion, something to supply fortitude when times are rough and a mode of rejoicing when things are looking better. His fans are able to find the same gifts in his music, thanks to his keen understanding of music and his talented ability to translate his emotions into powerful songs. “Music has carried me over some very difficult times in my life emotionally. Sometimes it seemed like the only thing that kept my head above water while I was feeling depression, was music. Music makes me feel many things in many ways. Music can soothe me, make me cry, give me goosebumps, make me laugh, make me happy and ecstatic, even.” McCarthy’s fans can say the same thing about his music. Music is cathartic, a source of release. McCarthy imbues each of his songs with this ability, providing a salve to the soul for listeners. “Good music should affect the soul and create catharsis within. I write music that I personally would enjoy as a listener.” And by holding himself to a high standard of emotional honesty and by sticking to his artistic guns, McCarthy has found a musical voice that will distinguish itself from those around it.

 

Anthony McCarthy has hit the road to promote JUST A DREAM twice now, taking a month-long tour that has lead him to The Sundance Film Festival in Utah and back. Work with his band The Rhythm Pimps will continue as well as booking solo acoustic shows.