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 Shenandoah -
Journeys
By: Cheryl Harvey Hill, Sr. Staff Journalist
For
Mike McGuire Interview Click Here.
Good
news for all of you true blue lovers of splendid vocal
harmonies; just in time for the new year, the
marvelous band that brought you a baker's dozen of number
one hits (thirteen), amassed three gold albums, numerous CMA and
ACM awards, and a few Grammy's over the course of their career,
is back with a new album fittingly titled Journeys.
 “It’s
the music that really matters to us, and it’s always been the
music that’s made the difference,” says Shenandoah drummer
and co-founder Mike McGuire. When McGuire and guitarist Jim
Seales started a band in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984, they
never dreamed their dedication to great music would lead them
down such a long and illustrious road; their journey produced
numerous memorable number one hits; among my favorites are
"Two Dozen Roses," "Next to You, Next to
Me," and "I Want to be Loved Like That".
Although
the band has experienced some band member changes on their Journeys,
the one thing that remained consistent has been the quality of
their music. On this project, the band wrote seven of the ten
songs but the entire album is excellent. One of the tracks that
stood out for me was "Mr. One Man Band." The vocal
harmonies on the bridge were perfect and I loved the lyrics. We
all get a yen to "go back" every now and again and I
would imagine that, especially at this time of year when the
holidays make us all a tad more nostalgic, trips down memory
lane are a popular destination and good music is always a
first-class way to travel through your cherished memories.
"Tied
to a Tumbleweed" was another song that grabbed my attention
and this song is certain to become an anthem for rodeo cowboys
but the lyrics will fit a lot of folks who have never even seen
a horse or worn a pair of Tony Lama's. "I'm kin to the wind
/ Tied to a tumbleweed / I didn't choose this life / this life
chose me" are lines that fit a broad cross section of the
world and anyone who is passionate about anything, will relate
to this song.
There
is much to like on this album and the song selection is a
sweeping embrace across genres. To borrow from an old song,
"Don't throw the past away, you might need it some rainy
day, dreams can come true again, when everything old is new
again!" Thankfully, that applies to great music and
talented entertainers. This is one encore that is long over due
and music fans are going to be glad to learn that Shenandoah is
still adding to their Journeys.
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Journeys
song list:
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1. Same Boat Now
2. Mr. One Man Band
3. Running 'Cause I Can't Fly
4. Right
5. Loving You Again |
6. Hillbilly Hotel
7. When You Were Mine
8. Tied To A Tumbleweed
9. Joleena's Getting Married
10. Driving Me |
Related
Links:
www.ShenandoahBand.com
- Official Website
Shenandoah's
Mike McGuire Interview
by Jim
Weaver
Shenandoah
is back with their 15th album in 19 years, titled Journeys,
and
drummer Mike McGuire
joins us for this session.
JW: Speaking of being back, it's been what, 3 years since your
last CD project; what has everyone been up to? Bring us up to
date.
MM: Actually it's been 5 years. We had a CD called '2000' that
we released in that year. As far as what we've been up
to....we're still musicians, singers and songwriters and I guess
we'll never get it out of our blood, so that's what we've been
up to. We wrote 7 out of the 10 songs on this CD.
We have other things that we do too. My brother and I own a
radio jingle company down in Muscle Shoals, AL where the band
started out. We bought a studio down here about a year ago and
we produce about 200 jingles a year. This studio had a lot of
hits cut in it back in the 'heyday' of Muscle Shoals. Hank Jr.
recorded his first hits in this building; 'Whisky Bent and Hell
Bound' and 'Family Tradition', Mac McAnally cut all his early
stuff here, the Commodores, Roy Orbison....lots of folks. It's
the old 'Wishbone' recording studio and it's really great to
walk around where so much history was made.
JW: I haven't seen the liner notes on the new CD (Journeys)
but I know you have written a lot of songs for this band over
the years, do you have any on this new project?
MM: Yeah....I wrote 6 of 'em! Guess I'll make the most money
huh? (He laughs)
I love songwriting. It's one of my most favorite things to do.
And regarding the CD....we're doing things a little different
this time around. We're only gonna sell it at our website www.shenandoahband.com.
That may change down the road, but we're trying to make our
website more central to our career. And something I'm excited
about on it is a new feature we just started a few days ago. We
have a page called the 'Shenandoah Diaries' which I expect will
take us the next couple of years to write. It's gonna chronicle
stories about our entire career....the good times and the bad,
the smiles and the tears. We already have a lot written, but
there's SO much more to share.
JW: It's a tough thing to do, but if you had to pick just one
song on the new CD and say, "that's my favorite",
which one would it be and why?
MM: Of the songs I wrote, I'd have to say 'Mr. One-Man Band'. I
think it may be the best song I've ever written. Each chorus is
a little different than the one previous to it. The way it
weaves images of the 50's, 60's and 70's throughout it, I always
thought was cool.
I learned that trick from Bob McDill. With songs like 'Amanda',
'Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold' and 'Baby's Got Her Blue
Jeans On', he's one of my favorite songwriters. He kind'a took
me 'under his wing' years ago after we wrote 'If Bubba Can
Dance, I Can Too'. I had told him I considered myself a student
of his writing. After showing him my notes on his songs, I think
he was flattered that I thought enough of him to actually sit
down and try to learn from him. And believe me...I've learned a
LOT
! And if it
weren't for him, 'Mr. One-Man Band' would've never been written.
JW: Even though Marty Raybon is no longer with the band, that
classic Shenandoah sound and harmony is still there and you guys
sound as good as ever. Who is handling the lead vocals these
days?
MM: Thank you for the compliment. I always sung most of the
harmonies on our records, so that's probably why they still
sound familiar. And of course Jim's guitar playing has ALWAYS
been a big part of our sound, as well as Ralph's bass parts. We
were lucky enough to start picking our own songs by the second
album and I think showed everybody that we had an 'ear' for a
hit. So I'm sure the style songs we tend to record has something
to do with it too.
Curtis Wright is singing with us now. He wrote 'Next To You,
Next To Me' and 'Rock My Baby' for us. That's how I met him
years ago. I remember falling in love with his voice the first
time they pitched us 'Next To You'. So I made arrangements to
meet him and we became friends. We wrote a lot of songs together
back then. AND he's sound a
LOT
like Marty. After Marty left,
Curtis was the logical choice for us.
He's written a lot of hits for other people too, like 'Too Much
Fun' for Daryll Singletary, 'What's It To You' for Clay Walker,
'A Woman In Love' for Ronnie Milsap and lots of others. He is
also an in-demand background singer on other peoples records. He
sung backgrounds on almost all of Tim McGraw's records, up till
the last couple. He's all over Reba McIntyre's last two CD's and
a whole bunch of other people's as well.
JW: When you look back over 19 years can you pinpoint the most
exciting time in your career? Or the single biggest moment?
MM: Hmmmm. That's a tough one! I don't know if I can narrow it
down to just one. Is it ok if I give you a few? The day we found
out 'Church On Cumberland Road' had gone to #1 was HUGE! We
couldn't believe it. Playing the 'Grand Ole Opry' the first time
was awesome. Our parents were all there and they were SO proud
of us. Here's one for ya...the day we got a bus! That might
actually be the most exciting thing for us. We had just done 2
years of shows in a van pulling a trailer around behind us. And
in each of those 2 years, we did over 300 shows and even had the
van catch on fire underneath us while we were going down the
interstate. We almost didn't make it out. So to be able to
actually get on our own bus after all that, was...well....words
can't describe it.
JW: How about the lowest point?
MM: That's easy...when they took Robert Byrne away from us as a
record producer. We always felt like he was a sixth member of
our band. He's the one that 'discovered' us and the one
responsible for so many of the classic songs people know us for.
Sadly, Robert passed away a few months ago. We all miss him
terribly!
JW: Shenandoah has been with the big record companies and now
you're doing your own thing, so you have to be encouraged by the
success of Indie label artists over the last couple of years.
What do you think the big change is that has the major labels
losing some of their control over the industry?
MM: I'm extremely excited that independents are doing so good.
The artist has a LOT more control over what he wants to sing.
How can you truly be an 'artist' when someone else is telling
you what to do. That would be like telling Norman Rockwell to
make his paintings look more like Andy Warhol's, just because he
was selling a lot more product to the public.
I think a lot of the reason major labels are losing control is
that when it all comes down to it; they don't really care about
their artists. An artist might as well be a can of tuna fish to
them. We're just something to sell. I think the public is a
whole lot smarter than labels give them credit for though. They
know the difference in something 'mass produced' and something
'created'! And with the freedom independent labels give their
artists, the public finally has something 'real' to choose from.
JW: What's down the road for Shenandoah in 2006?
MM: Well you never really know what's down that road. But that's
what makes it exciting, don't ya think?! The adventure of the
unknown...and we want to go find out what it is!
JW: The first single has been released to radio titled
"Right", what a fun song! What has the response been
so far from radio?
MM: We haven't' officially released it yet. We've only sent it
to a select few stations to play. We're waiting until after the
holidays to shoot the video and do a 'real' release. But I tell
ya, they are making us have second thoughts. Seems like
everybody is wanting us to release 'Same Boat Now', the first
song on the CD. Guess we better get our minds made up, huh?
JW: Where do you see Shenandoah headed over the
next 10 years?
MM: Well now that we have our own studio to record in, we're
gonna be free to record whatever we feel like. I can't imagine
not writing and recording. It has been one of the true loves of
my life.
And can I add something else here? I just wanted to tell country
music fans everywhere how MUCH we appreciate them allowing us to
come into their lives over these past almost 20 years. We
wouldn't be here today without them and we know it. So to all of
you, I just want to say 'thank you' from the bottom of our
hearts! What an awesome life you've given us!
If y'all get a chance, come on by our website and pay us a visit
www.shenandoahband.com.
We've got a lot going on over there and we'd love for you to
become part of our 'Shenandoah Family'.
Did
you like this album? did you hate it? Submit
a "Real People Review"
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Real
People Reviews
I bought
the new Journeys CD a couple weeks ago and there is not a bad song on it.
My fave is all of them on the CD but if I have to pick one, it is
"Running Cause I Cant' Fly". I rate it a 10+!
~ Lin Jones - Elm City, NC
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