V-Club hosts the Ménage tour

The+M%C3%A9nage+tour+is+made+up+of+three+songwriters%2C+including+David+Mayfield%2C+playing+their+own+music+and+singing+backup+for+their+fellow+performers.

Jeffrey Ferguson

The Ménage tour is made up of three songwriters, including David Mayfield, playing their own music and singing backup for their fellow performers.

David Mayfield, Hannah Aldridge and Levi Lowery will bring their VH1 Storytellers-esque, “songwriters in the round” Ménage Tour to the V-Club Saturday night.

“We all normally tour solo or in our bands,” Mayfield said. “For this tour, we’re just sitting on stage all together and one at a time playing a song, maybe backing the others up or just listening.”

“One of my favorite things to do with other songwriters is to share songs,”  Mayfield said. “They’re always excited about the new thing they’re writing, so it’s really fun to do if you’re in a living room somewhere ‘Listen to this now — now you play one,’ so it’s fun to do that on a stage, in front of an audience. It’s a unique peek behind the curtain of the songwriting process.”

Alridge said David presents himself as half-comedian and half-musicain in his shows.

“He approached me wanting to do a storytelling tour, where we tell stories about how or why we wrote the songs. We didn’t want to do a traditional in-the-round show, and it hasn’t been. The banter on stage every night has been hilarious. It’s been really fun,” Aldridge said.

“There’s lots of fun, comedy, sometimes things get outrageous,” Mayfield said. “There were some not-safe-for-work moments in the show last night. I consider myself more of an idiot, kind of like a court jester, so I love putting myself out there and letting my freak flag fly, because I think it is kind of ridiculous. I’m making up words that I rhyme with a guitar in front of people for a living and I like to embrace and have fun with it.”

The tour began last week and wraps up Sunday night in Lexington, Kentucky. So far, audiences have been receptive to the unusual show format.

“People are really enjoying it,” Mayfield said. “It’s fun to share fans that way. There’s a real intimate and living room feel to how we present the show. I’m going to be sad when this tour is over.”

“The audience has loved it,” Aldridge said. “One of the goals was to reach out to each other’s fanbases. Someone will come to see one of us and leave being fans of the other two. It’s fun because they know the songs and are able to interact with us. It’s an intimate experience, so far.”

The concert will be a return to Huntington for both Mayfield and Aldridge.

“I love Huntington,” Mayfield said. “I’ll get my curry burrito from Black Sheep, that’s where I always go. I play the V-Club a lot with my band and we always have a blast there.”

“I’ve performed there several times,” Aldridge said. “I’ve played with Tyler Childers; I’ve got a lot of really good friends there. Huntington is kind of like a second music industry home for me because I love the music that comes out of that area and people have welcomed me with open arms. That’s nice, to off-the-bat have a lot of support there.”

Nathan Thomas can be contacted at [email protected].