Singer-Songwriter Noah Gundersen to Perform Live in M-Shop

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Courtesy of Noah Gundersen

Acoustic solo act Noah Gundersen will perform live 8 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Maintenance Shop with opener neo-folk artist Armon Jay.

Michael Van Zanten

Acoustic solo act Noah Gundersen will perform 8 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Maintenance Shop with opener neo-folk artist Armon Jay.

Noah Gundersen is a singer-songwriter from Seattle. Having collaborated in two other bands over the years, he has had plenty of experience in music throughout his life. He is currently pursuing a solo career as an acoustic artist.

“I play Americana singer-songwriter music,” Gundersen said. “It’s more traditional acoustic music with strings and a full band at times.”

Gundersen was raised in a musical family and was the lead singer of his own band while he was still in high school.

“I grew up playing music,” Gundersen said. “My whole family took piano lessons. It was always a part of my culture growing up.”

Formed in 2007, Beneath Oceans recorded one unreleased EP before ultimately breaking up in late 2008.

“Beneath Oceans was a band I was in in high school with some friends,” Gundersen said.

Gundersen released his first material as a solo act in 2008 with a 6-song record titled “Brave New World.” The project featured vocals from Noah’s sister, Abby Gundersen.

Noah and Abby went on to perform together in The Courage, an indie-folk band led by the two siblings.

“Abby and I started playing together when I was 15 and she was 12,” Gundersen said. “I started The Courage when I was tired of being a singer-songwriter … I wanted to make noise, I wanted to have experience with a band. It was a good experience for a couple years, and it ended up not being something that I wanted to continue.

After The Courage broke up in 2011 Noah returned to solo work as he released the EP “Family” in 2011. As a meditation on his role models and lifelong friends, the record appropriately featured Abby as well.

“The Family EP was recorded in Austin, Texas, right after The Courage broke up,” Gundersen said. “It was pretty much the process of me returning to be a singer-songwriter and relearning how to do that.”

The EP has music featured on hit TV series Sons of Anarchy and Vampire Diaries.

“[Family] been received well,” Gundersen said. “I had a couple songs placed on the show Sons of Anarchy, and that boosted people’s awareness of the EP. Everyone’s been really complimentary about it.”

Gundersen’s first full-length album “Ledges” was released Feb. 11. 

“Most of the songs were written in a period of time when I was single for the first time in a long time,” Gundersen said. “Just trying to figure myself out, figure out who I was as a person in their early 20s; know what it means to be a man in the 21st century. A lot of those songs came from a time when I was experimenting and making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.”

Though the album’s production had a few changes through a process of trial and error, Gundersen is pleased with the final product.

“It took us a lot longer to make that record than we planned,” Gundersen said. “We worked on two separate versions of it in Texas with the producer. We ended up not being happy with either of those, and I had a bit of a falling out with him … I decided to produce the record myself singing with a piano, which was a really rewarding and positive experience. I found that I liked being in control of my own music, producing and experimenting in the studio. Although it took us three attempts to make the record, I do feel like the third attempt is the best one. That’s the one I’m happy we ended up with.”

Nashville-based neo-folk artist Armon Jay, personal friend and collaborator with Gundersen, will open the show.

“We met in Nashville,” Gundersen said. “AJ and I hung out and we quickly became friends, and he asked me for some advice about how to make his record. It kind of just came about that he’s actually playing in my band while opening some of the shows on this tour.”

Noah Gundersen promises a moving atmosphere for his show at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in M-Shop. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available in person at the M-Shop box office or online at midwestix.com at a cost of $10 to students, and $12 to the public, with a $2 upcharge the day of the show.