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McDonald explores There's a point in some successful artists' careers where they stop trying to recreate themselves and decide to do what they've always wanted to do.
his blues obsession
The former Doobie Brothers
lead singer performs
tomorrow and Saturday
By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin"It's like going home," said Michael McDonald, who performs tomorrow and Saturday with the Honolulu Pops.
McDonald, former lead singer for the Doobie Brothers with numerous solo hit singles ignited by his deep-throated voice, has just released his first album in seven years.
The 12 songs on "Blue Obsession" have all the McDonald vocal trademarks: bluesy toned duets, the joy and pain of love, betrayal, spiritual enlightenment.
"All my songs -- especially on this album -- are about hope or the lack of hope and how love is such a natural emotion," McDonald said. "It's the the ultimate form of hope in our life's time; it's where our sense of hope comes from."
In "No Love To be Found" -- with its Doobie Brothers/Steely Dan beat and horns -- McDonald sings:
"Down here on love's killin' floor"All couples hit a moment when it seems the relationship will never work," said McDonald who has been married 19 years and has two sons, 12 and 10. "The sad thing is so many people who hit that moment are so willing to give up easily."
I doubt if we can take much more."
"... Baby, I don't wanna live in some prison of promises
Baby, look around at all this emptiness
There ain't no love to be found."McDonald doesn't hesitate to write about his feeling and failings.
In "Where Would I Be Now" he confesses to his lover "... I know I let you down again" but despite his pride and insecurities it's her love that "helps me survive" and "keeps my hope alive."
Are McDonald's songs so revealing and traumatic that it's an obstacle to recording?
"I've never been a prolific writer," he says, perhaps avoiding the question. "I'm one of those guys who can procrastinate easier than anything else."
Another factor is McDonald prefers playing live. He's been performing with his band since about 1985.
"I always put off recording and I shouldn't," McDonald said. "Some (performers) have the good sense to do the recording first then perform but I've always been lazy. So I play live then try to arrange time slots to do a recording. It drives my managers crazy."
McDonald also alluded to a fear of failure that may be part of his reluctance to release new albums.
"An album is far more speculative than playing live," he said, laughing. Recording "can be frustrating. After you've put so much into it and maybe it doesn't do all that well; or it's just not your time slot; the record company doesn't do enough to support it."
McDonald said he probably held off recording "Blue Obsession" until the time was right.
"You approach this thing with apprehension because you know after such a long time you have to make one helluva record," he said. "You don't want to think about that but it's there."
With the title, "Blue Obsession," McDonald embraces his blues roots.
"I was trying to get back to the R&B music I kinda grew up with," he said. "At this point in my life I find myself thinking differently about that music; I accept that it has influenced me the most."
Born and raised in St. Louis, McDonald played in bands there for years, then tried to distance himself from the local music influence to adapt to the more commercial tech pop music business.
"I felt like I had a stone around my neck because of the style of piano I grew up playing," he said. "I learned to play by ear, stylistically, rather than technically.
"It was like trying to lose your southern accent when you moved north."
The last few years McDonald has noticed a return to the old school rhythm-and-blues along with a rise in popularity of swing, especially with younger audiences.
"I felt it was safe to come out of the woodwork," he said.
With that coming out, McDonald and family relocated from Santa Barbara to Tennessee, partly to be closer to an ill father in St. Louis but also to be closer to the emerging music business in the Volunteer State.
"It was blossoming there with a kind of buzz that L.A. had when it was happening," McDonald said.
Though the singer-musician tries to keep an open mind creatively, every time McDonald succumbed to do something contemporary it was creative self deception.
"People are not going to cross the street to hear Michael McDonald do hip hop, and I wouldn't either," he said. "What I do well is more traditional form of live music."
On Stage
Who: Singer Michael McDonald with the Honolulu Pops
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