A Word From Mike
JAN 1 1998
It’s not till now that I have something to say, and that is the explanation for my prolonged absence from this page. To be frank, MMB was doomed the day Duke said he was going to keep his job. Our plan was to release the CD and tour, but Duke’s announcement precluded him from traveling, which philosophically precluded him from pursuing music the way I feel I have to. Duke’s departure marked the end of the MMB concept as well, as thoughts about his replacement led to thoughts about what we have to offer a new guy, which led to thoughts of what it is we do, which led to thoughts about who are we anyway which led to thoughts about how do I want to go about this music thing? The conclusion I came to was to start over. In the past I’d always conceive bands based on people I knew. I never gave a thought as to how should I go about getting the songs done the way they’ve always seemed to call for. Sherry-Lee didn’t last long after these new thoughts popped up. I reviewed our CD and decided not to release it because I had to finally admit that while I thought it was all right, it wasn’t as good as possible. Not even close. Not through error, but in the end it just wasn’t to be. Dejected, Sherry and I went our separate ways. She still plays with Luann Kowalek and Hookahman.
One day shortly after all that crap, Al Ouellette innocently called me up and said it was time to do an application for a video for the new album. I filled him in that it was too late now. He asked what I was gonna do, and then I finally articulated the thing I’d never had the courage to publicly admit. I told him I was gonna get a couple backing vocalists and go all out with this country pop rock punk thing I’d been fooling around with for the last fifteen years. I said "Al, you see thousands of players everyday. You must know a couple women who sing like plutonium angels?" He replied that as a matter of fact he did. He passed my number to Rhonda Withnell, who called me shortly thereafter and we third degreed each other for awhile. Her friend Stephanie Suchy and herself were accomplished educated experienced professional singers. I was making sure they were all of the above, and she was making sure that I wasn’t some annoying hack who was dreaming big. We arranged to meet, and after confusion over The Rosebowl vs. The Sugarbowl, I finally got a tape to the two of them so they could see what it was I wanted to do.
All this time, and a bit prior to Sherry splitting, I’d been jamming some stuff out with local keyboardist David Shepherd. You can probably tell by now I was trying to enlarge the sound. (To let you all in on the secret, I finally decided to no longer be ashamed of how I always envisioned music to be. Good tunes for me usually had piano and organ and great singing and smart honest lyrics and rebellion and sex and violence and peace and wisdom, with a few exceptions. I’ve learned a few chops since Too Dumb To Quit, so I think I can handle a monster pop band now).
After recording at Crowtown, I grew to appreciate Bill Hobson’s instincts as a drummer and I really wanted him to drum for my new band. In the end, him and Dale Ladouceur served as our rhythm section for our first practice. Dale’s friend Duane Elias was there to observe (I guess Dale mentioned to him we were looking for a bassist, so he came to check it out.), and he’s still here. We finally ended up with a drummer after a couple of tries. Steph and Rhonda hooked us up with John Newton of The Cone of Silence. That rounded out the current line up of The Mike McDonald Band.
That had to all have happened four to six months ago. We did our first live appearance at The Rosebowl one Sunday a few weeks ago, followed by an appearance at The Painting Daisies open stage at The Sidetrack. Last Monday we did our first hour long set, and our first official gig is on Jan. 10 opening for Capt. Tractor at the Sidetrack. We’re doing most of the MMB stuff, and I’ve reclaimed a few JGW tunes as well. So far so good. Stay tuned...
copyright 1998 Mike McDonald