Disintegration Blues, Greg MacPherson’s sixth LP, takes a turn from previous albums and focuses on MacPherson’s ability to perform solo.

The record’s official release party spans two nights at the West End Cultural Centre – Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10.

Splitting it into two nights allows MacPherson to perform with his band on the first night and as a solo artist on the second.

“The last record (2009’s Mr. Invitation) was a band record, this one is a singer-songwriter record,” he says. “I just wanted to document the best songs that I have right now. This album is the most reflective of me as an artist.”

MacPherson’s reason for focusing on solo songwriting, rather than showing off a talented band, is rooted in his past experience.

“Over the years, it has been hard to get people to travel and tour when they have lives outside of music,” he says. “So, I would often tour alone, but I would get criticized for not doing recorded stuff on my own. For this album, I wanted a release that I could play as a solo act.”

Though in the past MacPherson has committed himself touring full-time, these days he keeps a day job as executive director of the West Broadway Development Corporation (WBDC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to instigating positive change in the West Broadway area.

“It’s hard to make a living unless you are touring a lot ... (and) it’s also hard living out of suitcases,” MacPherson says. “I love my work (at WBDC) as much as I love my music.”

However, MacPherson’s day job also acts as a creative catalyst for his music.

“This place (WBDC) is a pretty strong flavour and I see things that are challenging, frustrating, exciting and liberating. This all feeds into my music,” he says.

MacPherson’s concept of disintegration ties together social, political and environmental problems unique to the modern human generation.

Among other things, these problems inspire him to create music.

“As an artist, I am very sensitive to changes in the world,” MacPherson says. “Right now, you can say, environmentally, the world is falling apart and ... our notions of ourselves and our place in the world are constantly in flux. We are changing.”

The concept of disintegration is also pertinent to MacPherson’s work at WBDC.

“If you look at a census from (the West Broadway area), 70 per cent (of the community) has moved. This means there is less accountability and dependability of the people around you,” he says. “This is disintegration blues.”

However, MacPherson’s work also offers a partial remedy to the disintegration blues. As a musician, Macpherson tries to connect with people and build relationships with an audience. As a development executive, he works to build communities and relationships to improve the West Broadway neighbourhood.

Even his new record label, Disintegration Records, is founded on principles of the importance of community. The roster includes Cannon Bros., Haunter, Nova and Slow Dancers, all acts closely associated with MacPherson.

“It’s more of a collective,” he says. “We are not going to sell ourselves as a service, more of a partnership.”

Indeed, MacPherson believes this collective fills a large gap in the Winnipeg music scene.

“There was this need in the city to have an artist of a similar style and mentality to release your music,” he says. “I thought, geez, this would solve a lot of peoples’ problems if we made our own label.”

-See Greg MacPherson perform at the WECC on Friday, Sept. 9 (“loud” show with openers Cannon Bros.) and Saturday, Sept. 10 (“quiet” show with opener Jesse Hill)
-Doors at 7:15 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
-Tickets $16 advance (WECC, Ticketmaster, Music Trader, Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store) or $20 at the door
-Advance tickets to attend both nights: $30
-Visit www.gregmacpherson.com and www.disintegration.ca