Cincinnati singer-songwriter Michael Marcagi’s ascent is a homegrown success story. With a career built largely through grass roots social media support, the folk-rock singer has demonstrated that listeners are hungry for earnest storytelling rooted in age-old American musical traditions. His debut Warner Records EP, American Romance, expands on that promise, highlighting the timeless sound and engaging sense of emotional truth that has made Marcagi’s music so immediately compelling. Marcagi never undermines his listeners or takes them for granted. “Audiences are usually smarter than the musicians they are listening to,” he says. For him, there’s plenty of evidence that modern listeners of all generations understand and connect with specificity and sophistication in songwriting. This is part of why he aspires to remain as open and approachable as possible—in both his music and his public persona. If what has happened in his career during the past year is any indication, he may be on to something.“I want people to feel like they know me,” Marcagi says. “I’ve never really connected to that mysterious rock band thing—four blurry faces in a field where you don’t know who the guys are. I don’t want to hide.”