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Not everyone can compose a tune that's featured on the Super Bowl. "Going into a commercial break in Tampa," Jeff McNiven explained, "The NFL used 'Tampa Town,'" one of the many songs he's written. As if that weren't enough of a thrill, he was "completely amazed at the royalty check."
The 58-year-old musician has been making music for nearly 40 years. But he wasn't always solo. "My first band that received any type of notoriety was called Third Wave. Although it was short lived, we worked steadily in the Detroit area from 1988-90 performing original music."
The tunes continued in the Navy where he "played in our ship's band and numerous bands in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area. I settled in Florida where I honed my solo performing skills and started recording original music. All the music on my original music is played by me in the studio."
In addition to guitar, Jeff plays "bass, drums, handheld percussions, keyboard/synthesizer, and various brass and woodwind instruments." He's performed in "basically every state east of the Mississippi River," as well as Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. "I have opened for so many amazing artists, some who have gone on to reach major stardom."
But even professionals experience humbling moments. One such moment occurred when Jeff was "performing at a tailgate party at a Jimmy Buffett concert." He was asked to play an original song but was "so focused on Jimmy Buffett covers (that I) completely forgot the words to my own song."
"I love performing in an acoustic setting (and) look forward to continuing on with that. However, I would love to write lyrics and music for other artists to record and see what they can do with it. I prefer the country rock genre when writing because it's so easy to build a story that can relate to so many people in everyday life."
Readers are encouraged to follow him on Facebook at Jeff McNiven or Jeff McNiven Music. They can also check out his website at www.jeffmcnivenmusicepk.com.