Megan Slankard

"The new album has a healthy mix of stories about the end of the world, bank robberies, prison escapes, failed relationships, and other adventures.” - Megan Slankard

As the days warm with fall in San Francisco, indie alt-rock artist Megan Slankard and her band sweat through the final tasks involved in a brand-new album project. With the help of producer Alex Wong (Vienna Teng, Delta Rae, Amber Rubarth), Megan and her band are creating an edgy, spirited rock record, full of raw, sometimes sassy, often dark emotion: the sunny, exuberant singer-songwriter’s new album is her Dorian Gray picture from the attic. The album, entitled Running on Machinery, is available now.

Also this year, Megan created inDIYe, a new comedic talk and sketch webshow that provides a light-hearted “behind the scenes” look at what it’s really like to be an indie musician. (See below for link.) The show features musicians and others in the music biz from all over, many from the SF Bay Area; in the first episode, Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Poltz, known among other things for his collaborations with Jewel, was a guest star.

Megan has already sold over 35,000 copies of her four previous independently released CDs. Her last CD, A Token Of The Wreckage, is "an edgy alt-rock release that is a breath of fresh air" (Maverick Magazine), “gleaming, grooving, and gritty” (Minor 7th), with "thoughtful construction and clever wordplay" (Performer Magazine). That release, which was recorded with help from David Bryson (Counting Crows) and Jerry Becker (Train), held a spot in the 10 Best-Selling Albums on CD Baby for weeks. Her songs have also won several awards: in 2013 alone, she was a finalist in the UK Songwriting Contest, a finalist in the International Songwriting Contest (ISC), and a finalist in the Show Me the Music Contest. She was also a finalist for Best Female Artist in the International Acoustic Music Awards (IAMA).

Touring does not take a back seat to Megan’s love of writing, recording, and performing. She has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe–tens of thousands of miles–having performed in every U.S. state but seven. She gathered many adventures along the way, as indie artists do: rental cars breaking down in the wee hours in a rough neighborhood in Atlanta, being surrounded by a gang in a parking lot in Denver after a show, lost luggage and a trip to WalMart for performance essentials. On better days, she opened for Jamie Cullum at a sold-out Fillmore, played electric guitar on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live as part of the Jeff Campbell Band, belted the National Anthem to a crowd of 45,000 Giants baseball fans, sang duets with Pat Monahan of Train, and toured with Dire Straits co-founder David Knopfler–even co-writing the title track to his album Ship of Dreams.

Other adventures include singing the part of Mia in the new Google/Bill Keane (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) short film “Duet” and singing for a Nature Valley commercial. She even dabbled in musical theatre, playing a dizzy blonde in one of San Francisco’s own Thunderbird Theatre Co. productions. And last, but not in the least bit least, she appeared in TLC’s fashion makeover reality show What Not to Wear. Twice. And that was before the WalMart fashion essentials trip.

Please check out www.MeganSlankard.com