Daily Discovery: Mercy McCoy, “Brighter In The Dark”

Updated:

November 24, 2014 3:25 pm

Videos by American Songwriter

MERCY McCOY (Stefan Scheuermann, Collin Ryan, and Eddie Entreken) is one of the finalists in the 2014 Durango Sole Performer Contest. Listen to the rock/blues/pop/americana band’s “Brighter In The Dark” below. You can also check out the video here.

ARTIST: MERCY McCOY

SONG: “Brighter In The Dark”

BIRTHDATE: 1987

HOMETOWN: Safety Harbor, FL

CURRENT LOCATION: Tampa, FL

AMBITIONS: I would love for our band to be well-liked by both listeners and some of our favorite artists. Success for me would be us getting to share the stage with some of the best currently touring acts that inspire me like Dawes, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, or Wilco. In that dream world, in between touring, I’d like to run a company that helps small bands with no resources get a good start.

TURN-OFFS: People that chew really loud with their mouth open… It’s like nails on a chalk board!.. I probably do it to, though…

TURN-ONS: Great harmonies, Dobro, Smart women

DREAM GIG:

Big-Show Dream Gig: Lollapalooza, a couple slots before the headliner, with some awesome artists sitting-in with us. Maybe Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes, Norah Jones, or Gavin Degraw.

Small-Show Dream Gig: Sharing a bill at the Ryhman with Norah Jones, Amos Lee, & Jeffrey Foucault.

FAVORITE LYRIC: “If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts.” – Counting Crows

CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: Our old drummer, Jake. This guy is as nice as they come, but also as spontaneously-nuts as they come. The first time he showed up for a real band practice he disappeared before we even got started. We found him skinny dipping broad daylight in the pool behind the house…

SONG I WISH I WROTE: “Let The Blue Skies Go To Your Head” – Jesse Terry

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: (1) The person that takes on new artists at Secret Road Publishers. (2) Keb Mo (3) Lyle Lovett (4) Jakob Dylan (5) Norah Jones (I wouldn’t complain if it was just Norah…)

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: I’ve seen a lot of great acts and had a lot of memorable shows: I’ve met Willie Nelson, I’ve seen Keb Mo solo in a beautiful music hall on my 21st birthday, had my face happily melted by the black keys, and had beers with North Mississippi All Stars back stage– but out of them all, for whatever reason, I haven’t come away more inspired than when I saw Dawes at the 2012 Gasperilla Music Festival. I’ve seen them twice since, and they get better and more inspiring each time.

I WROTE THIS SONG: “Brighter In the Dark” about the (selfish) act of finding comfort in someone you’re not actually interested-in, while you’re rebounding. You use them to help you fill the void left by the person you really care for, all the while retroactively earning the beating your heart took already by behaving so unfairly to this new person. They get attached while you become less and less emotionally available. When you try to sleep at night your guilt and loss can’t help but float to the surface.