Get to know the man behind the music — here’s your chance to see into the mind of a musician.

Jeremy Grace of Organ Donor is teaming up with the ISU Guitar Club to put on a solo acoustic storytelling show in order for people to learn about the process of forming, writing and finalizing music.

“Just [Grace], an acoustic guitar and a microphone,” says Matt Jones, founder of the guitar club and senior in industrial technology. “It’s sort of a rip-off of MTV, but less mainstream, to get people to be familiar with local bands and to be more interested in them. There’s a lot of talent out there, even in the Ames community.”

Grace will tell the story of each of his songs before performing them. He will include information about how he writes, why he enjoys it so much and what it means to him.

He says his music is hard to describe. He likes a variety of different music and believes this is reflected in his songs.

“Some of it is upbeat, some of it’s kind of fun. It is not morbid all the time,” Grace says. “I really like Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen. I’m sure that some of those influences can be heard.”

Grace has been playing on the local music circuit for eight years and formed Organ Donor in 2001 when he signed with Bi-Fi Records. Although he plays solo acoustic shows about half the time, he says Wednesday’s show is going to be unlike anything he has done before.

“This will be very different for me,” Grace says. “I hardly ever talk about my songs. This will definitely be a new experience.”

The Guitar Club was founded last year and originally, all members would bring their guitars to meetings. That got too crazy, Jones says. The meetings are now carried out using a presentation format. There is one presenter who talks about technique, theory or maintenance.

“There are different ranges of preferences, from grunge to classical,” Jones says. “We have a plethora of styles. It really makes the club interesting.”

The concert was set up to act as an educational event for group members, as well as a way for the general public to learn about the process of writing songs. Jones says the Guitar Club hopes to push the local music scene as well.

“Part of the Guitar Club is increasing the awareness of the music for local bands,” Jones says.

When faced with the challenge of finding the right person for the show, Jones says he knew just who he wanted.

“I saw [Grace] at the Bi-Fi Records showcase and I was just really impressed,” Jones says. “He has excellent lyrics and plays the guitar like a madman, breaking strings left and right.”

Grace says the show should be a great learning experience for people who are interested in writing and performing their own material.

“It’s always cool when people can connect with my music and get where I’m coming from,” Grace says. “If that gets people to want to get into music more, then that’s always great.”

---

Who: Guitar Club Acoustic Set withJeremy Grace

Where: M-Shop

When: 8:00 p.m., Wednesday

Cost: $2 public (free for Guitar Club members)