{"id":7332,"date":"2014-07-15T11:00:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=7332"},"modified":"2014-08-06T09:58:22","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T13:58:22","slug":"sarah-mcgowan-and-the-dirty-gems-unveil-fun-passionate-singles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/sarah-mcgowan-and-the-dirty-gems-unveil-fun-passionate-singles\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah McGowan, The Dirty Gems Unveil Fun, Passionate Singles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah McGowan’s \u201cWilliamsburg Boy\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Sarah<\/a><\/p>\n

In her lament about a star-crossed crush on a hip \u201cWilliamsburg Boy,\u201d Sarah McGowan shines in this new folk-pop single. With some humorous irony on the cheesiness of love songs- stopping, for example, midway to speak \u201cI would literally fucking die [if he changed his hair]\u201d- this upcoming singer proves that she not only has the talent to write relatable, lovable songs like Taylor Swift or Christina Perri, but also has a friendly humility about it.\u00a0<\/span>Injecting even more of this humor into the song by parodying her generation \u2014 the hipster generation \u2014 McGowan shows that she has more to offer with her music than generic, mindless pop. Most importantly though, McGowan\u2019s voice beautifully croons with a brilliance and passion that suggests she is here to stay. Sarah McGowan absolutely has the power and talent to position herself within the hearts of fans of Taylor Swift, Feist, Regina Spektor, Brandi Carlile and more.<\/p>\n

When asked about the song, McGowan explained that she had heard the chorus in her head on the subway. What had originally begun as a love song about her boyfriend, who is in reality a boy from Williamsburg, she felt the song was a little cheesy, and in turn, found herself creating a larger parody of her generation. With a range of influences from Elliot Smith, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Feist, and Regina Spektor, McGowan wanted to keep the sweet, romantic essence she began with, but wanted to also venture into the edge and power of her folk and rock idols. Aptly, McGowan describes herself as \u201csweet with an edge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Surprisingly though, this Connecticut girl had not originally intended to become a musician. Planning and practicing to become a doctor, Sarah McGowan found that during an externship at a hospital, she could not genuinely devote herself to medicine for the entirety of her life. Thankfully for us, she turned to music and song-writing. This new dream had culminated into a reality when at one of her first public performances, she caught the attention of a few previously-uninterested barflies as she began singing.<\/span><\/p>\n

McGowan hopes to put together a show in the NYC area in July, but admits she is in the process of filling the holes left by her and her bandmates recent graduation from NYU. She is more eager though, for the release of her EP Indian Summer<\/i> in late August. In the meantime, she plans on trying out some new vegetarian recipes she liked on Pinterest, and finding a cat with which to share her new apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can listen to her track “Williamsburg Boy” here.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Dirty Gems’ \u201cInsomniac\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"TDG3<\/p>\n

Chill like a\u00a0lazy weekend afternoon, The Dirty Gems\u2019 soulful new single \u201cInsomniac\u201d laments about those instances in which all we want to do is live within our dreams. Lead singer Raycee powerfully captures such a moment with her strong, bluesy voice, and is backed by instrumentals which take cues from ska, blues, rock, and pop. \u201cInsomniac\u201d quickly oozes into your heart and dreams, enveloping you, and making you wish you had more. With so many diverse influences from the six band members, this single from The Dirty Gems\u2019 will genuinely appeal to most anyone.<\/p>\n

Raycee explains that the song, and the band in general, seeks to do just that, to universally appeal through sound and experience. For example, she says that they were first inspired to write this song when they were performing to an audience that included both fans and members of the industry. As they looked out into their audience at the end of the show, they found that those guests of the industry just did not \u201cget\u201d the show, whereas the rest of the audience was having a great time. Raycee concludes that it was just one of those moments where all they wanted to do was live in their dreams; it was one of those experiences, they concluded, that everyone faces at some point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Raycee describes The Dirty Gems as truly unique for having put together multiple, sometimes even disparate styles and made it work; they have made it fun. She gushes that all they want to do with their music is make people happy, and to get people to realize they can be their unique selves too. In reflecting on their performance at Mountain Jam one year, Raycee says that going out into the crowd showed her that they were doing just that. With evidence of people from multiple states listening to and enjoying their music, Raycee concludes that that was the moment in which she felt as if that message and their sound was truly resounding in others.<\/span><\/p>\n

So how did they get to where they are today? Well, Raycee postulates that music had always been the plan for each member of The Dirty Gems, at least from around the age of sixteen. As each had somehow been involved in musical theater, they independently decided to participate in music at Hofstra University, which under the guidance of one of their professors, eventually culminated in their coming together as a band. In the two years since, Raycee hints at the fact that they have really grown. She admits that with six members, there were and still are a lot of influences, and so it was difficult at first to let all of those influences and ideas shine through, and<\/i> still make sense. But now, she explains, they have found a way to allow that, and she inserts, that is what makes them unique. And where their music has grown, so has their friendship. While they are heavily involved in their music and jobs, Raycee explains that they always find time to hang out. In fact, their immediate camaraderie is what led to the naming of their band; with gems meaning friends, and dirty, meaning rough \u2014 as in unusual or unexpected \u2014 they charmingly encapsulated that repartee in their name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking toward the future, The Dirty Gems are working hard to make the right choice for themselves and their fans. As they are currently not signed, they are considering all options \u2014 whether that is to stay independent or sign with a label. In the meantime, they have several shows in July to which we can look forward, the earliest being on July 9th at the Greene Space in NYC.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can listen to their track “Insomniac” here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Katie Lebert currently works as an Associate Editor for the Gadfly, feeling all too mature with herself now that she has the chance to dress up on a daily basis. Going into her fourth and final year at the University of Virginia as an Anthropology major, Katie hopes to work for a non-profit organization and continue writing after she graduates. In her spare time, Katie voraciously reads the books she finds at her local Goodwill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah McGowan’s \u201cWilliamsburg Boy\u201d In her lament about a star-crossed crush on a hip \u201cWilliamsburg Boy,\u201d Sarah McGowan shines in this new folk-pop single. With some humorous irony on the cheesiness of love songs- stopping, for example, midway to speak \u201cI would literally fucking die [if he changed his hair]\u201d- this upcoming singer proves that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":7350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,213,220,212],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7332"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7639,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332\/revisions\/7639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}