The Boy Who Cried Love tastefully contrasts rootsy tones with innovative production (courtesy of Maia Sharp) as McCain croons heartfelt and reflective lyrics. And it's clearly working for him, as this is as well-crafted and impassioned as anything McCain made during his brief run as a hitmaker, and he and his audience are doubtless happier with this than if he took a stab at Auto-Tuned pop. Edwin McCain ROCK 2011 Edwin McCain’s 11th studio album delivers more of what his fans have come to love him for without resorting to anything near predictability. From the romantic introspection of "The Boy Who Cried Love" and "Sober" to the sly, easygoing funk of "Strange Angel" and the folkie storytelling of "Millhouse Girl," this is Edwin McCain sounding just like Edwin McCain, unconcerned with musical trends or the whims of the larger audience as he does what feels right. With songwriter Maia Sharp (another veteran of the late-'90s AAA scene) as producer, Mercy Bound breaks practically no new ground for McCain, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing as the last man standing among his graduating class, McCain sounds determined to carry the flag for a sound he helped define, and he seems perfectly happy to do it.
Perhaps he's not selling as many discs or filling the same number of seats, but Mercy Bound confirms his voice is still in strong shape, he's still writing with his traditional blend of heart, soul, and regular-guy smarts, and his mixture of rootsy light rock, singer/songwriter-inspired folk/ and soaring/ Southern-style melodies is working just as well for him now as ever. But songwriter Mark Addison couldn't help but imagine himself in their place.In 2011, Hootie and the Blowfish are a memory, while Darius Rucker plays the country circuit, the Dave Matthews Band has practically evolved into a classic rock act, Counting Crows are floating about in the ether, and Matchbox 20 is remembered as the band that spawned Rob Thomas, but unlike his rootsy compatriots of the mid-to late '90s, Edwin McCain hasn't changed all that much since Misguided Roses climbed the charts in 1997. Many in the city don't recognize the signs of homeless people hidden nearby others have grown accustomed to their presence. They might be Vietnam vets, failed screenwriters, mentally ill, drug-addicted, or just out of luck. The homeless are all ages - young runaways, young families with children, the elderly. all considerably cheaper than the median California home price of half a million dollars. They sleep under stairways, in bushes, under bridges, in tents on riverbeds, in caves, basements, tree houses, crawlspaces, parked cars, garages. Los Angeles is no exception, with an estimated 73,000 homeless on any given night. In any economic center, there's bound to be a wide gap between the haves and the have-nots as local economy drives up real estate prices. A sleeping hobo's feet poke out from behind a dumpster. A high-powered businesswoman steps over an unconscious drunk on the sidewalk. Nonetheless, many traveling entertainers and tourists have noticed the jarring contrast of drug addicts, homeless, and gang members juxtaposed with pristine skyscrapers and Giorgio Armani suits. Given all this, it seems as though the streets would be arteries pumping solid gold through the city. is the third largest economic center in the world. It's also home to seven Fortune 500 companies (as of 2011). Photo: Ron Reiring, via Flickr, CC 2.0Los Angeles, The Entertainment Capital of the World, has a long history of cranking out mass diversions for massive profits. First time I've had a title track!" ~ Songwriter Mark AddisonĪ homeless encampment outside City Hall in Los Angeles I am equally jazzed that Maia Sharp turned Edwin McCain onto the song. Maia Sharp sang with me on the demo and the studio version.Ī year or so later, I was lucky enough to be in the good graces of my friend Brendan Okrent at ASCAP when Joan Baez was looking for a final song for an album, and gratified when she chose 'Mercy Bound.' I joined her tour for a day or two and found myself onstage with her at the Newport Folk Festival that year, which was a blast. That song was the cornerstone of The Borrowers' only album, although it wasn't much like the rest of the record.
I think I borrowed the opening melody from a Joan Jett song - can't remember which one. And the runaways, the homeless were so much a part of the scenery. It changed the way I looked at life forever. The distance between the super rich and the unbelievably poor was never so obviously wide, even though they lived within blocks of each other. I was struck by how rich and poor lived almost side by side. "I wrote Mercy Bound soon after I moved to LA.
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