Mike wins award....
From " http://www.therock-plymouth.com "
Michael Troy's "Whispers in the Wind"reflects the lives of Fall River common folk.....
Although relatively new to the folk scene, Michael Troy has been wowing people whenever he performs, including DJs and listeners of WUMB where he was recently featured on their Live at Noon show.
Stories of people he knew, of the hills and mills of Fall River and a touch of autobiography here and there, coupled with a deep, rich voice and nimble guitar pickin', combine for a riveting, intense performance.
Michael will perform a two-hour set at the Hardware Cafe in Marion on August 9 at 9pm, including original words and music from his Whispers in the Wind CD and a new CD scheduled to be released in the winter of 2002.Michael Troy was born and raised in the rough-and-tumble mill town of Fall River, Mass.
In many ways, his life reflects the lives of the hard-working common folk who populate this part of New England. Having spent parts of his own life as a mill worker, fisherman, laborer and carpenter, and most of his adult years as a husband and father, Michael has traveled many paths, and the experience and wisdom he's gleaned along the way echoes through his music.
A magical storyteller with a gift for melody, a deep rich voice, excellent finger-pickin' skills and the ability to compose outstanding stanzas of substance, Michael's plaintive ballads speak of the hills and mills of Fall River and of childhood dreams not quite forgotten in the adult quest to make an honest living.
But Michael is honest when he says he's playing for himself, for the sheer joy of creating music to call his own. "I have no plan" he says. "I'm not trying to write in any style or sound like someone else. I write from gut feeling. I let the emotion drive the music, not the music drive the emotions."
In 1998, as Michael puts it, he moved "from the road of least resistance, to the road one chooses". The CD he released that year, Whispers in the Wind, was taken directly from demo tapes he had been working on, tracks he had never intended to actually put into CD form. Each song on "Whispers" is like a vivid, painted picture - the artist's conception of a life experience, illustrated solely by the tools of voice and guitar.
There's no fancy production here, no drums, keyboards, sidemen, not even liner notes - just the simple, eloquent, touching words and melodies of a humble, quiet man from a town that has seen its share of historic ups and downs.
Michael has performed at clubs, coffeehouses and festivals throughout the Bay State, including the Narrows Center for the Arts (Fall River, MA), Fall River Celebrates America (Fall River, MA), New Bedford Summerfest (New Bedford, MA), New Song Folk Music Club (E. Bridgewater, MA), Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), the Kendall Cafe (Cambridge) and the Linden Tree Coffeehouse (Wakefield, MA) to name a few.
Michael is also the 2002 winner of the annual Rose-Garden Performing Songwriter Competition. He is currently working on a second album to be released in the winter of 2002.
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