You can usually pick Shannon McArthur out of the cars lined at a stoplight. He's the one crooning out a Michael Jackson song, headbanging, and beating his hands on the steering wheel.

"I seriously think I'm the best steering-wheel drummer in the world," singer/songwriter McArthur says. "I can lay down the phattest beat on the wheel, while driving. Probably the best air bicycle drummer too."

The bragging rights for obscure hobbies aside, McArthur has come to be known among his friends for his unbridled passion for music. His roommates will find him standing in the shower strumming his guitar because of the 'better acoustics' of the tiled room.

"I don't know what I'd do without music," McArthur explains. "It's a satisfying sense of release for me. I'll be studying in the library, and there could be a test the next day, but if I get hit with the slightest idea of a song, I can't think about anything else. I'll have to ride my bike from the library to go write it. And when I'm done, I'll be happy for a week straight."

His new EP, Take Life to the Face, has recently been released in the Chapel Hill area, a 7-song album layered with acoustic grooves and playful melodies. Available on iTunes, his first single Side to Side, offers relaxed guitar hooks with a harmonic, subtle energy in his vocals. Reviews of McArthur's music have applauded his smart instrumentation and a clean sound that has steered away from overproduction. This summer, McArthur has been playing shows in Charleston, South Carolina and has plans for recording another EP later on this fall.

First attracted to music in his early youth, McArthur found an old six-string and hasn't stopped since. "Every day I'd always jump on the bed and look at myself in the mirror. It made me feel like I was in a band for some reason...not really sure why," McArthur recalls. "I just remember I had to buy a longer chord for optimal bed-jumping."

He owns up to some awkward childhood memories. "I got in trouble for playing the Chili Peppers' Californication in my middle school cafeteria," he recalls. "And I never won the talent show."

But McArthur discovered a passion in songwriting that he didn't find elsewhere, and he eventually grew into his own style. While never taking formal theory lessons, he was able to hone his music ear by listening and improvising, without much reliance on sheet music. He became fascinated with seeing how he could create his own riffs, to the point that it felt wasteful to spend time covering others' songs. "I never want music to become nothing more than business for me," McArthur explains. "I don't want to sacrifice what sparks passion in me, the enjoyment I get out of music, for money. I'd rather fail doing my own thing than become a local lounge room entertainer."

In the first years of college, McArthur felt pressure to pursue a 'sensible career.' He used to be on edge about his future, considering accounting or investment banking, but after a year in business school he decided there was no feeling it for him.

"I was sitting in a room in this hot suit, listening to a guy tell me why I wasn't good enough for some internship. I said to myself, 'Screw it, I don't even like this crap.' I drove the next morning to Nashville. It was the first time my music had been truly tested." He came back with two contract offers.

Whether talking shop about music to the point that his date feels like she's nonexistent, or busting out a harmonica to spice up a dull English lecture, McArthur will always have an itch for a tune under his skin.

"I don't want to look back and ask what could have happened."