Today we’d like to introduce you to Reid Ferguson.
Hi Reid, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I started playing music at roughly age seven. My mother “forced” me to take piano lessons to understand how to read music. I’ve never hated how the piano sounds, but I didn’t enjoy playing it. I quit those lessons about three years later and almost begged for a guitar until I was about 13. My mom didn’t want to buy me a musical instrument for fear that I wouldn’t stick with it (note the piano incident). She didn’t know I would take to the guitar “like flies on….” and love it. When I was 14, I began to see what my singing voice might sound like, which was awful. Initially.
I stuck with honing my voice sans voice lessons but never thought I sounded good enough to pursue music as anything more than a hobby. One day, I heard Patterson Hood (of the Drive-By Truckers) deliver gritty, true-to-life vocals in their song My Sweet Annette, and I was hooked. I thought, “This is the music I want to make. All of the storytelling, the jangly southern guitars on top.”
I went out and started playing open mic nights in my early 20s. I played in a little-known band in Delaware, my home state (think Charleston low-country but with pines instead of palms), for a year before the roar of NASCAR race engines and southern folk music called me to North Carolina. With the recognition of many other talented Carolina artists, I gained enough of a following to book solo shows in North and South Carolina.
I then set to recording some of my music; three songs have been released everywhere, with many more to follow. I’m putting a bit of a band together as well. I’m looking forward to our upcoming events! So yep, that’s the 10-minute version of how I got here and what’s in store.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. I started gaining some traction in the early 2010s before I met a series of folks who weren’t as much about making music as they were about the party lifestyle associated with it. A few encounters turned me off from going out and playing, so I stopped. I took a huge break just as I was starting to get recognized. That was a mistake. With my girlfriend Jessica’s support, I returned and started over again in 2017. Thankfully I met all the right people this time; a wonderful circle of Carolina artists came around me and showed me that music could indeed be about expression, creativity, brevity, joy, sorrow, sadness, and life. Music can be the human experience. And, like everyone, COVID sucked the life out of the scene for a couple of years. It shot down what was supposed to be my biggest billing back in 2020. It’s been an interesting few years for many of us, and I’m no exception. However, now, the creativity and extroverted performer side of me are returning, just like the new life of spring.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
Well, I sing and play guitar. Sometimes at the same time, sometimes separately. I write music. I tell stories through my songs. I write about my own personal life experience and spin a tall historical tale or two at times through the people I meet and the places I’ve been. At the moment, I’m most proud of my latest single release, Midnight Curve. It’s a captivating, hard-driving (pun intended) story about a man providing for his family in somewhat questionable ways up in the hills of Wilkes County. I’ll leave it to you all to hear the rest. In regards to my style – I don’t play music like other people. I don’t attempt to fit a mold or genre. My three current releases display that quite well. If I’ve got an idea for a song and how it is supposed to sound to me, that’s how it gets recorded. That’s how it gets performed.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Always have a backup plan. Always find ways to keep yourself fresh, especially mentally.
Contact Info:
- Website: reidtferguson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reidtferguson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reidtferguson
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3isWD3wykFcLXPUmBzpJxg
Image Credits
Jessica Lassiter/Pinkblade Photography
