Edwin McCain grows 'Misguided Roses'
(June 26, 1997)
After nearly five years of virtually non-stop touring, Edwin McCain sorely needed a long break. He didn't head for the mountains, a remote Caribbean island or his favorite fishing hole.
He took up a new hobby: gliding.
Getting into a heavier-than-air aircraft (without an engine), using airflow for lift and producing a free flight was just what the doctor ordered.
"After we got off the road last year, I was really, really burned out, tired and worn down," the Columbia, S.C.-based singer-songwriter said recently. "Then I left (music) alone ... for almost two months. I always wanted to try gliding, so I decided to give it a whirl.
"You try to create diversions for yourself that are so completely unrelated to the music business so it allows you to change perspective and get on another tangent that'll let you see things a little more creatively, rather than getting caught in a rut."
Gliding helped clear up McCain's head and re-energize him going into the recording of his second Lava/Atlantic album, "Misguided Roses," released June 24. The results, brimming with confidence, show that his recreational deviation did the trick.
On "Misguided Roses," McCain and his band mates - saxman/keyboardist Craig Shields, drummer T.J. Hall and bassist Scott Bannevich - have effectively exorcised any notions that their 1995 debut LP, "Honor Among Thieves," was a fluke and sold several hundreds of thousands of copies merely because of the group's close ties to Hootie & the Blowfish.
"The association with us and them was such a great help and a great hurt, in a lot of ways," McCain said. "It was a bittersweet kind of thing, because they're such great friends of ours and did me such a huge favor by performing on the album. I mean, we got on Letterman and everything.
"Now, I'm not naive enough to imagine that I'd get on David Letterman if it wasn't for Darius Rucker and the boys. But the association also is something I'm constantly faced with. This record will definitely show that I'm not coattailing anyone."
There isn't a hint of Hootie on "Misguided Roses." If anything, it displays McCain's wide spectrum of emotions, musically and lyrically. On the rockin' "See the Sky Again" (the first single) and "Grind Me In the Gears," McCain offers a Eddie Vedder-like growl, and on the impressive "The Rhythm of Life," he shows an eclectic twist.
"In the beginning, there's a rhythm being played on the surface of a river," he said. "It's an aboriginal tribe in Australia. The kids get in the river with their mothers doing the wash and these kids play the rhythms on the surface. It's real soothing.
"I ended up using 'Misguided Roses' as the album title because of a line in 'The Rhythm of Life': 'Sleeping through classes, we'll make it up later. There's still so much time left to go. Misguided roses, we bloom in October and merging triumphant in time for the season's burst.' I just thought that pretty much sums up what the songs are all about."
Sophomore albums are traditionally the hardest for an artist, but McCain is philosophical about his mindset going into "Misguided Roses." There was no go-for-broke or play-it-safe attitude. It was just "go for what you know."
"I tried to pull creatively as honestly as I could as far as my music goes," McCain said. "I try my best to honestly draw from whatever's moving me at the time and I can interpret that emotional content through music on to the album.
"If you go into a record trying to say, 'Oh, we need a pop hit like 'Solitude' again' or 'We need a rock-radio hit,' with all the other pressures already on you, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.
"I believe your audience and your fans and the people that care about you and the people who can make a difference in your career truly understand honesty in your music and effort and emotion, much more than they can appreciate 'formatibility.' "
More than anything, McCain is proud of the progression his band has made between albums.
"We only had a month to do that first record, so we were a little hamstrung by the time," he said. "And the material, a lot of it was from when I was 18 years old. On this one, I was writing as we were recording, and it flowed really well."
Faced with a 100-date tour this summer, McCain won't have time for gliding. That may please Atlantic executives, who may shudder at the thought of his new hobby.
"There's no second chance, not a lot of room for error in it," he said. "I haven't been flying recently. Glider crashes aren't generally fatal, but they are generally bone-breaking, so I've laid off it for a while. I'm sure that makes a lot of people happy."
BWF (before we forget): "Misguided Roses," aided by the single "I'll Be," entered Billboard's pop albums chart in April 1998. It reached No. 73 and sold more than 500,000 copies. In late September, "I'll Be" debuted at No. 7 on Hot 100 singles chart. ... Check out Edwin McCain on the Web @ www.edwin.com.
Delbert McClinton: one of the lucky ones
(Oct. 9, 1997)
If ever there was a fitting album title, it's Delbert McClinton's "One of the Fortunate Few."
"You don't have enough time for me to tell you how fortunate I am," the soulful honkytonk singer-songwriter said recently from his home in Nashville.
He has seen it all through a 40-year career.
€ In the late '50s, the Lubbock, Texas, native's first group, the Straightjackets, was the house band at Jack's Place in Fort Worth, where they shared the stage with Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf and Big Joe Turner, to name a few.
€ In 1962, he played harmonica on Bruce Channel's No. 1 hit, "Hey! Baby." A subsequent tour with the Beatles led to an impromptu harmonica lesson with John Lennon, who later used his new skills on "Love Me Do."
€ He teamed with Glen Clark in the early '70s for a pair of critically lauded albums.
€ Then came a slew of solo releases, beginning with "Victim of Life's Circumstances" in 1975. He bounced from one label to another, along the way scoring a Top 40 hit ("Giving It Up For Your Love") in 1980 and snaring two Grammy Awards (for best rock vocal duet with Bonnie Raitt for "Good Man, Good Woman" in 1992 and best country vocal collaboration with Tanya Tucker for "Tell Me About It" in 1995).
Even at age 57, McClinton still is at the top of his game. "One of the Fortunate Few," his first for Rising Tide/Universal (released Oct. 7), has plenty of star power to back up a grab bag of roadhouse rock 'n' blues, with help from B.B. King, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Pam Tillis, John Prine, Mavis Staples, Lee Roy Parnell and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers).
It ranks among the best of his career.
"I had a little bit more time to work on this record, because I hadn't done one in a little over four years," McClinton said. "I've been writing quite a bit and have been working with a lot of different people. We knew we had enough songs for a record and then some.
"Even before this opportunity with Rising Tide came along, we were prepared and ready. We were listening to the particular songs and went over the people we knew who we wanted to work with and just called them up to see if they wanted to be a part of it.
"It didn't start out to be an all-star record, particularly. Actually, it's just a bunch of friends of mine that I thought would sound good with these songs. I think it's a good thing to be in a position to do something like that. The most important thing to me is that they were gracious enough to join me."
Despite an unfortunate history with major labels, McClinton is quick to praise Rising Tide's commitment.
"They have a spirit that got my attention. They like me," he said with a laugh, "and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. We'll see what happens. They have a lot of real positive energy there; unfortunately, that's something I haven't seen a lot of in my career."
From the moment he first stepped foot on stage, at the Big "V" Jamboree in 1957, McClinton knew his calling.
"It's the only thing I can do, and it's one of the only things I get so much pleasure from," he said. "I learned a long time ago that I don't like to do things that aren't fun. When I first got involved in this, I remember going out and seeing all these people in the audience, who were there for my thing ... well, it was just an awesome feeling. It still is, and I don't take it for granted."
BWF (before we forget): The Delbert McClinton solo album discography - "Victim of Life's Circumstances" (ABC, 1975); "Genuine Cowhide" (1976); "Love Rustler" (1977); "The Best of Delbert McClinton" (MCA, 1977); "Second Wind" (Capricorn, 1978); "Keeper of the Flame" (1979); "The Jealous Kind" (Muscle Shoals Sound/Capitol, 1980); "Plain From the Heart" (1981); "Wake Up Baby" (Accord, 1981); "Feeling Alright" (Intermedia, 1982); "Sometimes Country, Sometimes Blue" (Quicksilver, 1983); "Honky Tonkin' " (MCA, 1987); "Let the Good Times Roll" (1988); "Honky Tonkin' (I Done Me Some)" (Alligator, 1988); "Live From Austin" (1989); "I'm With You" (Curb, 1990); "Best of Delbert McClinton" (1991); "Shot from the Saddle" (PolyGram, 1992); "Never Been Rocked Enough" (Curb, 1992); "Delbert McClinton" (1993); "Honky Tonk 'n Blues" (MCA, 1994); "Classics, Vol. 1-2" (Curb, 1994); "One of the Fortunate Few" (Curb/Rising Tide, 1997).
Michael McDermott serves up 'Last Chance Lounge'
(Oct. 22, 2000)
Nine years ago, Michael McDermott was a burgeoning singer-songwriter-guitarist, signed to a major label at age 22 and hailed as a Dylan and Springsteen for the 1990s. (How's that for career pressure?) Today, after several tight squeezes through the wringer, he reemerges a new man - and admittedly a little worse for the wear.
"Last Chance Lounge," his fifth album and first for Koch Records, was released Oct. 10. That, in itself, says something for the Chicago native's perseverance.
"I don't feel like a new artist," McDermott said recently. "I feel like an old artist, really. I just turned 31, but I feel like 70. I've been down this road so many times.
"I've gone through a lot of personal stuff, like quite a bad bout with drugs and booze. On a personal level, I feel better, and it's something I still have to work at. But I'm not so consumed with being a recording artist anymore, which might not be a good thing, quite frankly. It's just what I do, and I love doing it. It's all I want to do. I just hope to God I can maintain, otherwise it's going to be this or I'll be saying things like 'Attention, Kmart shoppers.' It's this or that."
He showed a lot of promise in 1993 after EMI whisked him away from Giant after his debut album, "620 W. Surf," captured MTV's attention and drove the single, "A Wall I Must Climb," up Billboard's album rock tracks chart. Two albums he did for EMI were critics' favorites but failed commercially.
Then came the EMI implosion stateside.
"The whole EMI thing, the fallout of EMI was a good thing," McDermott said, "because they were a pretty bad label and weren't doing any good for anybody, really.
"EMI led you to believe that you were going to be the next Eddie Vedder any day now, but it would never happen - and not just for me, everybody there. Like David Gray ... he was on EMI too, and we couldn't sell a dozen records between us, and now he's doing great."
For the next four years, times were tough for McDermott. He found himself falling into a shell.
"It was so confusing," he said, "because I had gotten signed when I was so young and then you wake up and you're like 28 and the company closes. I was like, 'God, how do people get record deals?' I didn't really know. When I was 20, it kind of fell into my lap. I was never one of those earnest, hard-working, local singer-songwriter guys that passes around tapes to everyone he shakes hands with. I was bewildered; 'do I call people I know? Can you sign me?' "
His inner turmoil worsened with drug use, enough to frighten family members and friends. One friend in particular, Dave Reidy, helped snap him out of it.
"We went to high school together. In fact, I took his starting guard position on the basketball team," McDermott said, with a laugh. "That's how we met. He's a friend and a fan. We were always in touch; he would come down and be supportive. He saw how fucked up I was getting all the time. He kind of kicked me in the ass and got me pointed in the right direction. It got to the point where he said, 'Dude, you've got to get a hold of yourself.'
"Eventually, he became my manager. And look what's come from that; I got signed again. I'm thankful to him for a lot. He's on me for staying out too late; he's worried about me all the time, which is a nuisance. It's like having another mother. It keeps me honest.
"All this sounds like a rock 'n' roll cliche, but it's never easy. You really do have to take it one day at a time. The days are okay; it's the nights that are dangerous. It's a challenge, and I love a challenge."
McDermott was so up to the challenge, he decided to release his next album, "Bourbon Blue," on his own Wanted Man Records in 1999. He pounded the pavement and stuffed envelopes, like any do-it-yourselfer. It sold more than 10,000 copies in the Midwest, sparking interest from Koch.
For "Last Chance Lounge," McDermott remixed and remastered five songs off "Bourbon Blue," including the first single, "Junkie Girl," and recorded eight new tracks. He co-produced them with Joe Hardy (The Replacements, Steve Earle, Tom Cochrane).
"Junkie Girl" is a prime example of why McDermott was worthy of that early adulation. Cut from the melodic mold of Stone Temple Pilots' "Sour Girl," it examines a self-destructive relationship with a former girlfriend who was a heroin addict.
"Whether it's out of curiosity or concern, I'm not sure, but I was thinking about her the other night, thinking of tracking her down," he said, "but her phone's been disconnected. I know where her father lives, but he probably wouldn't be real happy to hear from me. If that became a hit, what a story that would make, maybe a made-for-TV movie."
McDermott isn't going to fret about how "Last Chance Lounge" does. In fact, after his big-label experiences, he's understandably cautious about Koch's ability to deliver.
"I try not to think about it," he said, "because then you get too caught up with thinking like who buys the record in Des Moines, Iowa. It can swallow you. 'Oh shit, we only sold two records in Tulsa. They're playing the song, so what's the problem?' I just do what I do. It's tough to have faith in record companies because they're usually so inept.
"I think I made one better record than this, and that didn't do anything. This is a really good record. We'll see how well it does. It's encouraging to me, though, when I see someone like David Gray, where he's not getting a lot of radio airplay but he's still selling 700 tickets wherever he goes. People are talking about him; it's a word-of-mouth thing."
He's never met Gray, but he laughs thinking about the two sharing EMI horror stories some day.
"Wow, what a terrible conversation we would have," he said. " 'Hey, remember that A&R guy? What a jerk.' EMI stood for Every Musical Idiot. I still can't believe Prince signed with them. I mean, Prince, what was he thinking? You're Prince, for chrissake."
BWF (before we forget): Lounge with Michael McDermott on the Web @ www.michael-mcdermott.com. ... The Michael McDermott album discography - "620 W. Surf" (Giant, 1991); "Gethesmane" (SBK/EMI, 1993); "Michael McDermott" (EMI, 1995); "Bourbon Blue" (Wanted Man, 199); "Last Chance Lounge" (Koch, 2000).
MICHAEL McDERMOTT RE-CREATES HIMSELF (Jan. 21, 1994):
Rummaging through a closet not too long, Michael McDermott found a reminder of his former self.
It was not a pretty picture.
"I was looking for something and I really don't remember what," the Chicago native said recently, "and I came across this notebook, a journal I had written.
"I looked at the past page, and the last entry was from around the time my album came out."
He read the scribblings and couldn't believe that it was something he had written. Who was this person? That's not me. Or is it?
"What's funny is, I wouldn't even like the guy who wrote it," McDermott said with almost a shameful laugh. "The whole tone and point of view of it was really gross. ... and it wasn't that long ago!"
It was just July when the introspective singer-songwriter's album, "Gethsemane," was released on his second label (SBK/ERG) in as many outings. Though it was greeted with universal critical approval, the album has only now begun to take off commercially.
With songs of redemption and mysticism, "Gethsemane" marks a proverbial fork-in-the-road revelation for the 24-year-old McDermott, who vocally resembles Bruce Cockburn.
"I had made another album on a previous label (Giant/Warner), and I was in this kind of contractual negotiation, and the label I'm on now wanted to purchase my contract," McDermott said.
"And through all the negotiations, I felt stifled and that was a catalyst to becoming much more ... well, let's just say being kind of abusive to myself and others. Not physically but mentally and physically to myself. Just a lot of indulgences and excessive behavior."
When someone loses their sense of direction, he said, those obstacles can sometimes become a creative vehicle. "You doubt yourself," McDermott said, "you wonder if you're going to write another song again, if you're going to make another record. It's fear, really, and you have to move on.
"But, hey, I'm feeling better."
Indeed. McDermott's "Gethsemane" is spiritually enlightening, delving into confessional territory, like on the track "Leave It Up to the Angels." He sings, "I'm frightened by the way I feel, maybe you are too/ I'm losing faith in everything and everyone but you."
The only problem: some listeners are confusing McDermott for a Christian artist. He cringes at the prospect.
"Even on the road, you play a show and people come up to you and tell you, 'Oh, you touched me,' all these beautiful things that you long to hear," he said. "And then they'll say something like, 'So, uh, how long have you been a Christian?' That kind of blows it for me. It's like, 'What does that have to do with anything?'
"You use a few images from growing up, like from the Bible, and suddenly people think you're a Jesus freak, which isn't the case. Who I consider a savior has little to do with the songs I write."
BWF (before we forget): McDermott's third, self-titled album was released in 1996.
Pat McLaughlin comes 'Unglued'
(March 17, 1994)
The name Pat McLaughlin is well-known in Nashville circles. His songs have been recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Steve Wariner, John Prine, Don Williams and Tim O'Brien, to name a few.
Once upon a time, he was a major-label act himself, cutting two albums for Capitol - one of which was never released but often cited as one of 1990's best. McLaughlin didn't fall from grace, he fell victim to financial circumstance.
A much-contented McLaughlin has resurfaced on dos/Antone's Records, releasing "Unglued," a mixed bag of country and rock in the vein of John Hiatt. And he will be touring with the Subdudes in April.
"When you get a deal on a major label, there's a lot of jive talkin' going on," the Nashville-based singer-songwriter says. "I was just happy to get a chance for a record deal like that (with Capitol)."
McLaughlin's self-titled debut in '88, produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House), uncorked one of Nashville's best-kept secrets. It signaled the end of many years drifting from one town to another, making ends meet with carpentry work and assorted odd jobs.
"But when they didn't put the second record out, it wasn't so much a disappointment as it was psychedelic," McLaughlin says of the ill-fated followup "Get Out and Stay Out," a victim of Capitol's recessionary rush to cut costs and its roster. "Capitol owns the masters, but I have a DAT of it, so I might sell it out the back of my car."
Joking aside, McLaughlin prefers the smaller-label touch.
"You can really talk to them and tell them what's going on, where with a big label you really don't. You speak to a spokesperson."
Robin McNamara battles his way back
(Jan. 5, 1995)
While still in the original Broadway cast of "Hair," Robin McNamara was only 23 when he hooked up with producer Jeff Barry (Monkees, Neil Diamond, Archies) and scored a million-selling bubblegum hit with "Lay a Little Lovin' On Me" in 1970.
He may have been a one-hit wonder, and one of his ex-wives may have his gold record stashed away someplace, but McNamara hasn't stopped living life.
Now based in Gulfport, Fla., the 47-year-old McNamara has been mailing out copies of a three-song demo tape to major labels in hopes of at least selling one of his songs to an artist who might consider doing a version.
"Honestly, 'Lay a Little Lovin' On Me' was a wonderful time for me and a wonderful lemonade song," he says, "but wasn't the '70s sort of a blur for everybody? I went through a couple of marriages and a couple of sad airplane rides, but now is now and you keep pursuing life."
"Lay a Little Lovin' On Me" peaked at No. 11 on Billboard's singles chart. Though a second hit never followed, McNamara continued to tour in the '70s with his backup band, later known as Exile (who themselves had a No. 1 in 1978 with "Kiss You All Over" and became a top country act in the '80s).
He also appeared in the 25th anniversary revival of "Hair" and is considering the lead role of Jesus in a remake of "Godspell" this spring.
How does he see his chances this time around with the demo tape?
"Nil to slim to none, probably," he says, with a laugh. "I do this because it's like a passion for a craft. If you're a carpenter, and you love to work with wood, then you love to work with wood and you create things and you hope people enjoy it. That's what I do."
Holly McNarland has the right 'Stuff'
(Nov. 27, 1997)
In Canada, singer-songwriter Holly McNarland has it all: rave reviews for her full-length debut Universal album, "Stuff"; heavy video and air play for the single "Numb," and sell-out shows.
The United States is playing catch-up since its stateside release in early October.
"We're working on it," McNarland said recently. "We'll be doing a few shows with the Wallflowers, so we're just trying to get good opening slots. The more you play, the more people will hear you. The other stuff will work itself out."
Canada was introduced to McNarland's striking voice a year ago with the EP "Sour Pie," and that led to inevitable comparisons to fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan.
"We both play honest music; that's the thing we most have in common," McNarland said. "But I think most of the comparisons were made for 'Sour Pie.' It was really pretty and melodic. But 'Stuff' is a lot more moody and introspective. It has more of an edge to it.
"Whenever anyone gets big like Sarah, you start getting compared to them, because they have broken a lot of ground. Some people are saying that I'm a lot like Alanis (Morissette), but I'm nothing like her. I am my own person, and I write about things that are important to me."
McNarland can't make any predictions about her prospects in the United States.
"It's all a crap shoot, really," she said. "But I know it's a really good record, and that's all that matters."
BWF (before we forget): McNarland was named best new solo artist at the 1998 Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys. ... Fans can find her on the Web @ www.hollymcnarland.com.