written by: Jamie Nguyen

With the start of October and cooler weather on the way, some hot coffee, tea, and acoustic music is the best way to welcome fall.

MSC Town Hall welcomed James McDougal to perform for the Coffeehouse series this past Wednesday. James started learning how to play guitar and sing from a young age after seeing his father lead worship as a music minister, saying “naturally, I wanted to be just like him”. Similarly, James leads worship for Young Life a few times, which is where he found out about MSC Town Hall and Coffeehouse. His team leader’s roommate is part of MSC Town Hall and she recommended him.

James says his favorite part about performing live is “being present with the crowd” because it gives him a chance to let people get the chance to see his outgoing personality. James believes that “your music only means so much to someone if they have no clue who you are as a person”, so being on stage gives him the opportunity to connect with the audience. Although his favorite song to play live changes frequently, currently his favorite is “Atlas Hands” by Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

When asked who his musical inspirations are, James says he is inspired by John Mayer, who is the “biggest reason I’ve fallen so in love with playing guitar”. But when it comes to writing his own songs and lyrics, James says his inspiration is Bon Iver. James says he “would love to start writing more music”, but he finds it hard to be inspired and often doesn’t keep any of his original songs. However, he’s “learning to push past those barriers” because “not everyone’s going to like my music, but that’s okay as long as I do”.