While excited to perform at the upcoming Congressional Record 2024 music event, Rep. Morgan McGarvey wants to set expectations, at least for himself.
“I think my dad would be more strenuous in saying, ‘He has no talent,’” the Kentucky Democrat said about his guitar skills. Regardless, the first-term lawmaker is committed to performing with colleagues from both sides of the aisle on Sept. 17 at the Capitol Visitor Center for an evening event aimed at elevating the arts and art education.
Several members of the Congressional Musicians Caucus and Congressional Arts Caucus are expected to perform. “It’s totally intimidating, but I have embraced my level of talent and accepted I will only improve so much before Sept. 17,” McGarvey said Thursday.
The Kennedy Center, Library of Congress and the Recording Academy are putting the event on, and — warning, shameless plug ahead — Roll Call has raised our ink-stained hands as a media sponsor. (For the, ahem, record, Roll Call has no say in the event programming, and the event organizers have no say in our coverage of said event, including this item.)
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said not to believe McGarvey’s aw-shucks-ing. “He’s actually an excellent guitar player,” Huffman, who has played with McGarvey and other colleagues at public events, said on Thursday. “He’s sand-bagging,” Huffman said, good-naturedly.
The two first bonded over their guitars when McGarvey moved into Huffman’s old House office on Capitol Hill. They played some tunes at that year’s Democratic issues retreat and have been hanging out ever since. Huffman, who has occasionally played with a Sonoma County-based band, SoloRio, back in his district, attributes his older siblings and the family record player to his affinity for James Taylor, The Beach Boys, Carole King and other stars of folk rock and California Sound. He plans on performing as well at Congressional Record.
McGarvey’s entry point to music goes back to childhood, with him crediting a middle school teacher, Caroline Browning, with getting the boys at his school to sing in the choir. He picked up a guitar in high school, around the same time he was immersing himself as a teenager in the vibrant Louisville, Ky., punk and indie scene of the 1990s. (Slint; Will Oldham, aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy; My Morning Jacket, among others who defined that time and place.)
He and his dad also would listen together to iconic bluegrass musicians like Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice and Steve Cooley. McGarvey also extolled the talents of current stars with Kentucky roots like Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson.
It was a visit to a farmers market a few years back where his children grooved to the sounds of an acoustic band that led him and his friend David Bryant to form The Gintlemen Tonics, with Bryant on vocals and McGarvey on guitar. McGarvey said they play a few times a year, including at the farmers market.
Regardless of what songs and style he ends up going with at Congressional Record, McGarvey is pretty sure it will be better than his performance at this year’s Congressional Baseball Game, when he broke his foot early in the game.
“I’m the happy-to-be-there guy,” he said.
To which Huffman adds: “He can play just about everything.”
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