“Brutal Irony” is my response to the current world situation, with the planet being locked down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Even though it’s just a demo, I’m particularly proud of this recording because I not only sang and played all the instruments on it, but also recorded it and mixed it myself.
When I shared it with some friends, one said it has “a real Tom Petty vibe to it,” while another noted that the doubled vocal parts have a Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan) quality to them. A third said it reminded him of Neil Young — but he always says that about my tunes!
I’m curious: What influences (songs or artists) do YOU hear in it? Thanks for listening!
See this Distrokid landing page for links to “Bonesaw” on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and several other digital platforms. More background on this song, as well as an analysis of seven different types of political songs by Philly-based songwriters, can be found on my recent blog post “The Political Song: Seven Approaches.”
I bought this CD in a Bay Area record store around Christmas of ’93 (it came out in October) and was absolutely obsessed with it for a good year – maybe longer. I’d just moved to Seattle and grunge was all the rage, but I found the country-tinged songs on this CD (like the title track, High Water and We’ve Been Had) every bit as compelling as the all-out rockers (like The Long Cut and Chickamauga).
Suffice to say, I wouldn’t be writing & playing the Mack Hooligan stuff I am today if it hadn’t been for Uncle Tupelo (and a bit later, Blue Mountain and Whiskeytown). They sure as hell beat the hell out of all that crap by that Eagles I had to listen to while growing up & going to college in Arizona and southern Cal! I’ll still take Belleville, Illinois, Oxford, Mississippi, and Apex, North Carolina over f*cking “Hotel California” any day.
I’m delighted to share a couple of big pieces of news with y’all. The first is that as of today, two new original songs of mine that the estimable John Faye recorded, mixed and played on — and that our good buddy Cliff Hillis was kind enough to master in record time — are now available to stream and/or download on all the big distribution platforms (e.g., Amazon Music, Deezer, Google Play, iTunes and Spotify, among others). Just search for “Mack Hooligan” and they should come right up.
My previous 3-song EP “The Wrecking Life,” which was recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by Cliff Hillis in January 2017 and which features such talented musicians as John Short III (aka, “Shorty”), John Faye, Tom Curtis Jr. and Cliff, will be available on those same platforms within a few days.
The other big bit of news is that I’m headin’ down to Nashville in a couple of days to take in the 5 days of non-stop musical glory known as the AmericanaFest. I’ll be bringing branded USBs stuffed with the aforementioned songs in the hopes of hawking my songwriting talents and perhaps hooking up with some future co-writers down there.
I’m pretty excited about these next steps for my fledgling musical career. Hit me up the next time you see me at a gig or open mic and I’ll be happy to share what I learn in Nashville. Whatever happens, I’m grateful and humbled to have had these opportunities come my way, and can’t thank John Faye, Cliff and Shorty enough for helping to make them possible.
Mack's Musings 