Edwin McCain: New CD, New Lifestyle
Chris Manson August 26, 2004 Issue

Rootsy singer-songwriter and southern soul fan Edwin McCain’s first visit to Destin was in 1993, two years before his debut album on Atlantic, Honor Among Thieves, and the top-10 single I’ll Be. “I saw Destin, Fla. on the tour schedule and asked my manager, ‘What the hell is Destin?’” McCain recalled. A decade later, he hopes he’ll be playing at Charles Morgan’s Harbor Docks for another 20 years.

“That’s one thing I think people misunderstand,” McCain said during a pre-gig discussion in Morgan’s office. “Musicians play where they have fun. I’ve had plenty of high-profile gigs that weren’t much fun.” McCain and his band—guitarists Larry Chaney and Pete Riley, keyboard player Craig Shields, bassist Lee Hendricks, and drummer Dave Harrison—were in town to promote their new CD, the DRT Entertainment release Scream & Whisper.

According to a Rolling Stone biography, McCain distinguishes himself with his “full-bodied, easygoing voice and no frills songwriting approach.” After four successful albums for Atlantic, McCain released The Austin Sessions in 2003 and Scream & Whisper in June. His songs have appeared on the compilation Stop Handgun Violence and soundtracks for the Kevin Costner film Message in a Bottle and the TV miniseries Jesus.

I asked McCain about some recent developments on the music front, notably the controversial Vote for Change Tour. “I think any encouragement for people to be proactive is a good thing,” McCain said. He voiced some concern about the inevitable backlash on the participating artists from the heavily Republican Clear Channel broadcasting empire. “It’ll be interesting to see the fallout from that. Politics aside, getting people out to vote is a real good thing.”

McCain’s heavy touring schedule includes 200 to 250 dates a year. “I think building a lifelong career in music takes a lot of time,” he said. “If I do this from the road and in person, it gives people a sense of who we are and what we’re about. I’d rather do it the long, hard way rather than through publicists.”

What audiences can expect from an Edwin McCain Band performance depends on what night you go to see them. “A lot of times I do a stripped-down, storyteller acoustic show. Some nights it’s the big rock show and anywhere in between. It’s different each time. With seven albums to draw from, the song selection varies.”

McCain’s performance at Harbor Docks Aug. 11 offered a little bit of everything. “He played all his stuff,” Morgan said. “It was packed here. You couldn’t move. He played hard, played some acoustic stuff. He’s real open with the audience—so many people know his work and know him personally. They fish with him, play golf with him. Edwin has a lot of friends in Destin. Whenever he comes through here, we’ve got an open date.”

The Edwin McCain Band has always been tolerant—encouraging, really—of fans taping their concerts. (“I love seeing the microphones out in the crowd,” McCain said.) The band has explored the idea of offering those trendy new “instant” CDs for purchase after the shows, but for now, McCain’s record label is focusing on promoting Scream & Whisper.

Derek Shulman founded DRT Entertainment to focus on hard-touring acts with strong fan bases. “DRT is unique in giving artist-friendly deals,” McCain said. “I can make more selling 100,000 albums than I could selling a million with (Atlantic parent company) Time-Warner. The only way the big labels benefit you is if you sell five million or more. This is a business—I employ nine people, so it makes sense for this to be profitable.”

One highlight of the new album is McCain’s cover of Rod Stewart’s Maggie May. “Atlantic wanted me to do it for a greatest hits album, so we cut it and sent it to them,” he said. But Atlantic told McCain the track sounded too similar to Stewart’s version, so the hits CD was postponed indefinitely. McCain was stuck with a $12,000 studio bill, so he included Maggie May as a “bonus track” on Scream & Whisper.

The album has been referred to as a “second honeymoon” for McCain—the publicity materials for Scream & Whisper describe the new music as “a group of songs that arrived while (McCain) was falling in love with music all over again. “I got kind of beat up in the ‘big’ music business,” he said. “There were times during the heat of the battle when I’d be worrying about SoundScan and things I didn’t really have control over. Any time you play music you should really be enjoying yourself—the real thing is to love what you do while you’re doing it. The new music, along with my lifestyle change, is kind of a snapshot of my renewed dedication.

“I quit drinking about a year ago. It definitely improved my health and ability on the road. It used to be that every single town I’d go to, there would be friends who’d been waiting all year for their big night out. Well, after all those big nights out, you have to say enough is enough.”

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