![]() "But as I started playing them I realized how much I love them, I really do." "I never intended to use these songs for myself," McCain says. Initially, the writers' collaborations were supposed to be reserved for other artists to sing. Teaming with Nashville songwriters Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, McCain came up with "I Want It All," which has to rank with the best and most engaging songs of his career. In some ways, The Austin Sessions came about as a result of McCain's further adventures in songwriting. "I'm so relieved that I don't have 15 committee members to decide whether or not I'm going to wear black pants on television. The label has brought McCain another kind of freedom as well. The fans - and I hate to call them fans - the friends of music that survive the advertising campaign long enough to understand what your music is truly about, and who have incorporated your music into their lives to the point where you are part of their memories and emotions - those are the ones you do it all for."įor The Austin Sessions, McCain teamed up with ATC Records, which had the good sense to let the artist simply follow his muse. "The way you have to look at a major-label deal is that it's really just an advertising campaign for you to be able to play for the people that really understand what you're doing. Sometimes, it doesn't take much for the wheels of commerce to roll over and crush the art. It was probably just time for that relationship to come to an end." McCain's association with the label ended, but he emphasizes, "I'm very proud of the music I made with Atlantic. ![]() Edwin's last recording for Lava/Atlantic, Far From Over, was released in 2001. The Dianne Warren-penned Top 40 hit "I Could Not Ask for More," which was also featured in the film "Message in a Bottle," drove Messenger to Gold Certification. Two years later came the breakthrough album Misguided Roses, featuring the Top 10 smash "I'll Be." In 1999, the band released the Messenger. He formed the Edwin McCain Band and released Solitude in 1993.Ī quartet of albums on Lava/Atlantic Records followed, starting with Honor Among Thieves in 1995. Starting out in his home state of South Carolina, McCain played solo acoustic shows on the resort island of Hilton Head and gradually expanded his territory from there. That sort of honesty and integrity has been the guiding force throughout McCain's career. I didn't redo the vocals, they just are what they are." It's real loose and it's not overproduced. "The core group of people that like what I do have always said they want an all-acoustic album, so here we go. "We've had people asking for this record for a long time," McCain says. That much is apparent from just one listen to his sixth album, The Austin Sessions, on which McCain, joined by his longtime band mates Larry Chaney (guitar) and Craig Shields (saxophone), presents a selection of new compositions, a few old favorites, and some choice covers in a stripped-down acoustic format that lets the material speak for itself. That's how it all started for me, and that's how it is yet today." "It's funny - you can dress 'em up however you want to, but it always comes back to the song - to the acoustic guitar and the voice. "Songwriting has always been the main thing," he says. Yet, despite the heights to which his career has taken him, McCain is most grateful for the gift he's been given to write songs that are meaningful to him, but that also resonate with anyone within the sound of his voice. ![]() ![]() He's a platinum-plus recording artist whose hits "I'll Be," "Solitude," and "I Could Not Ask for More" have brought him to the attention of millions, and a tireless troubadour whose rapturous concerts regularly sell out. ![]() There are many facets to Edwin McCain's career. ![]()
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