Michael's Madness

Welcome

2009-08-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

hey everybody....first off i'd like to thank Kevin Yahl and all at Digital One for the new website.....its just the basics....soon we will have, new demo's ...video's of the recording of " Hey La Hey" and all sorts of goodies.....so keep checking back.....its gonna get very exciting around here for the coming months......
God bless you all and thank you for continued support....

much love
xoxox
m

Next Stop....Nashville

2008-11-06T11:38:00.001-08:00

Next Stop.....Nashville

Hey everybody, just wanted to tell you that i will be heading to Nashville on monday to start rehearsals for the new album and first official day of recording is the 17th. So excited to be working with Lex Price on this album. We will be at House oF David studio's and then back to Lex's house for any further stuff. So very very excited. Thanks for your continued support and can't wait to share this piece of work with you .

xo
m

God is in one room, The Devil is in the other

2008-09-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

greetings,

i always get so far behind in writing these things i never know where to start. Europe was great and sad. Shows in Italy were amazing, made some great new friends, had a relationship end, new ones begin...traveled 29 hours in my last 72 hours there. Got sick, was drunk alot, woke up not knowing what country i was in, had a birthday, fell down and hurt my knee( due to bday drunkeness) did some Buddhist chanting, swam in the Mediterranean , went to Fellini's hometown and did a show and a radio show,..said on stage at a show in london " fuck the brits" but i blame that on the absinthe..,had a great time at " holy joe's" in london..., came home and lost a thousand dollars in memphis, had some wonderful shows with the great susan enan, and in the last two days i've been sober.
written a few new tunes, rediscovered a few older ones.....presently in the middle of a" crisis of faith", which there seems to be no end to as of now.
not doing too much traveling as of now, which is kind of nice, so i can regroup. Thanks to those who came to the shows over the last couple months.....almost all were memorable for me.....cept that london one.....oh....and new jersey too( sorry about that)
sorry to Cindy's parents.....i think someone slipped me a mickey......
thanks to everybody for sticking by,....hoping to start recording in october/november.....and am soooo psyched to get started....
will keep you updated with details as to the with whom, where and when and why.....
say a prayer tonight, for the broken
xo
m

Who Breaks A Butterfly

2008-07-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings from madhouse central,
the whimsicality of life never ceases to amaze me......blown around like leaves in autumn....i've heard it said that gratitude is the key to life.....i recently said to a friend, that if there was a jeanie.....and granted me one wish.....i wouldn't wish for fame or fortune i'd wish that in my pea brain of a heart that i would learn to be grateful for the life i've lead to this point....instead of the bitterness i carry around like a cross....maybe gratitude is the key to life.....maybe a lack of gratitude makes you feel like there is something missing....like there is an unfillable( i know, its not a word) hole....
today is the 5th in a series of songs i've put up on monday morning madness....."The Great American Novel, Room 411, The Rain Always Makes Me, God And The Devil, and Who Breaks A Butterfly" quite happy with the little run that was...hope you enjoyed it too.

Waiting on dates for the Italian Tour....i think its going to run from Aug 21- Sept 3rd.....but thats as much as i know now....
starting to think about the next record.....after this last batch i'm certain that the album is there....cutting the songs down to 12 will be the hard part, but i am VERY excited about going in to record again.....need to raise capital and then whom im going to work with.....

anyway that's all i can think of at present.....sorry about the delay in posting....hope everyone is enjoying their summer...God bless and hope to see you all soon
xo
m

may day

2008-05-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody,
Been a while and i'm sorry i was remiss in not writing sooner....much has happened since i last checked in.....had an amazing tour of ireland, england, scotland, wales, and italy.....with Eileen Rose and the Holy Wreck......
i'd like to thank all of you that i met on the tour.....too many to name....but Steve Foster, Marty McCool, David Emmerson, My new Italian family, Alex and Rob, Tabita, and Ennrica, Fluvio, Lorenzo.....Hannah Kowszun.......but more on her later......had mixed emotions about coming back home.....this IS my home....but was really just an amazing time to be over there,,,,,the life of the troubador....different town's every night.....different main streets filled with mystery....stories....legends.....breathed a new life into me....and i'd like to thank Eileen Rose for making it possible.....got some pics on myspace from the tour and will get them on to the website soon too.....and got a couple throw away camera's that i need to get developed.....so more to come...
There were many people in Italy that had " 620 W. Surf" albums.....which i had never even seen before.....and i just cant' get over the hairdo i had......wow......i am hoping to make a return there in late august or september....am looking very forward to that....

i actually thought i had all week off.....only to check my www.myspace.com/michaelmcdermott and realized i have 3 shows....two in indianapolis and one in memphis.....so its back to work....have many song idea's....but havent' really had the time to get them finished....which is very frustrating for me.....

was supposed to do a tin angel show last week and play in jersey.....but when i got to the plane.....it had been delayed from 1pm to 3 pm......then 4:30 pm....which would have just barely allowed me to make the gig......we boarded the plane went out to the tarmack and then sat, and sat....then the pilot came on the intercom and said " we have an ignition problem....engine 2 is not firing, so we are going back to the gate to fix it....." then we sat at the gate.....and after another 45 minutes....he said " the plane has been designated out of operation...we need to find a new plane" so that sealed my fate.....i am so sorry to those of you who bought tickets....and i hope to have a rescheduling date soon......as well as those in new jersey.....

am doing 4 national anthems this summer at wrigley.....only 3 have been scheduled.....as of now.....

take care of each other....and may God bless us all
xo
m

oh seven, random thoughts

2007-12-30T18:23:00.001-08:00

well happy new year everybody......interesting year it was....personally, professionally, spiritiually.....lost a great friend, Niva Bringas.....made some new friends......the record is hanging in there......loved the davenports shows.....excited about the uk stuff....had great time in cheltenham, broke my hand....though i think technically it was new years eve of 06......the cubs made the playoff's....had a birthday gig in london......heading up to minneapolis tomorrow morning to bid farewell to 07.....which i liken to a really good pizza place that kinda had an off night ( or year as it were) and only served you an ok pizza.....you don't complain necessarily cuz you like the joint and the people there.....but you really hope next time its a fair bit better....terrible analogy i know....but i'm kinda hungry right now.....so i think i'll leave it at that.....and head out to my favorie pizza place....and look for mystical signs about how 08' is going to fare.....if its a good pizza.....i'm hopeful.....if its not so good......well.....you know.....

happy new year.....God bless y'all

xo
m

a day of days

2007-08-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

hello everyone......just got back from England and what a whirlwind trip....would like to extend my deepest thanks to david emmerson....for all the help....and to my new friends...steve and pip.....what great gents to have come across.....had the best time....what a thrill ......seemed to go over quite well.....sold out of all the cd's by the third day, and they were asking for more as we left.
came home and did the wgn news......
there is going to be a full page article in this sunday's chicago sun-times....we had a review in Entertainment Weekly that gave it a B.....although it almost seemed to slag it. So i was suprised by the good grade,.....would take a B any day of the week and twice on sundays if i we're still in high school....

this is from Performing Songwriter Magazine

Michael McDermott
Noise From Words
[One Little Indian]

Michael McDermott¹s eighth studio album and first on the One Little Indian
label is a stripped-down effort, possibly the roots-rock artist¹s best yet.
Noise From Words is like a clinic, as McDermott wears his emotions on a pair
of songwriting sleeves in a way that brings each powerful track to life. He
tells stories like John Prine, but marries a smoky, barroom voice with pop
sensibility in a way that more closely resembles Marc Cohn. From the start,
you feel McDermott¹s pain as he sings, ³Like a poet writes / A singer sings
/ And you and I make a mess of things.² ³Still Ain¹t Over You Yet² is
tailor-made to sing around a campfire, but for pure songwriting prowess,
nothing matches the agonizing beauty of ³My Father¹s Son² and the uplifting
piano ballad, ³I Shall Be Healed.² ‹Mike Farley

so yeah...heading to new york tomorrow for my last " living room " show....then home for a day and then off to memphis on friday....then next week....the big shows at Davenports......i'm tired but been so long since i've been so excited about things....without you all ...none of this would be happening....i thank each and everyone of you....from the bottom of my feeble heart.....God bless y'all....see you soon i hope....oh yeah....the record is in stores today....so go buy one will ye? pretty please?
xox
m

london calling part 2

2007-05-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all....i'd like to thank everybody for their, phone calls, prayers, text messages, teddy bears, flowers, cd's, dvd's, strip o gram's ( kidding) whilst i was recovering from surgery. Still moving pretty slow....walking with a walking stick....can't laugh, sneeze or cough yet....and i'm fairly certain they left a pair of scissors in my belly( jk) ...nah...it just feels that way.....
Just got word we will be heading to England for the Greenbelt Festival in August....with most likely a few shows in or around the shows there....hopefully a return to the Borderline....sad cuz the dates for Greenbelt are on the same day as my birthday and my mothers' birthday....her 80th ! i bet i'll be grounded for missin that one....zoikes....
Got the great new video by Brian Fitzpatrick up on the myspace site now and will be on the main website shortly.
Release is slated for August 28th 2007...and will be having record release parties in Chicago and in Philadelphia....look for those dates to be announced within a couple weeks...i am so heartened by the way things are setting up for this record and i'd like to thank everyone here for being a part of it.....I hope its going to turn out to be quite a ride.....God bless......Be kind to each other.....Give love.......

below is an excerpt from the book i just finished.....simple in sentiment but resonated with me.....hope you enjoy it.....

He looked at her and after a while he said, Its not about knowing
where you are...its about thinking you got there without taking
anything with you
you don't start over....every step you take is forever, you cant' make
it go away, none of it....you know what i'm saying?
i know you don't but let me try one more time..
you think when you wake up in the mornin, yesterday don't count, but
yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is
made out of the days its made out of. Nothin else. You might think
that you could run away and change your name and i don't know what
all. Start over.
And then one morning you wake up and look at the ceiling and guess
who's layin there?

xo
mm

where are we?

2007-04-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody.....Michael here.....in a new cyberland....hope you dig it.....there isn't alot of landscape to look at just yet....but we will be getting there. As you may or may not know....i have signed with One Little Indian and will be releasing the record now in August. It is available only digitally on the One Little Indian- US website. They call that a soft release.... I couldn't be happier to be with this label. I just met with their San Fransisco office and they were all lovely people. We are currently assembling the radio, press, touring people....so its a very exciting time...albeit a little dull for me...cuz i want to get things going yesterday. Its been slow few years, a lean and sometimes very dark few years....but i'm seeing a little leak of light...thanks for hammering at the darkness with me.....i'll try and keep this website as fresh as can be...but it may take me a while to get the hang of it....Many thanks to Kevin Yahl and Digital One for their amazing work....God bless....

xo
m

is that a ship coming in?

2006-07-06T08:19:00.002-07:00

I cant' go into too much detail now, based on the fact that it is not official....but it looks as though this record has found a home....WooHoo! ! ! !
the record is tentatively slated for a 02/07 release....which is a bummer, on account of that its so far away still, but they just wanna make sure its set up correctly....i am thrilled. Really thrilled...This changes everything...Have a bunch of summer shows coming up...and there will still be more to come. I think i'll still lay off on doing too many new songs...cuz we still have so much time before the record is out....so bare with me.....you'll thank me later....
did a show a few nights ago at Fitzgeralds with The Famous Potatoes....which i was fillin in for Mike Jordan....( author of whiskey and water, died in 92) which was great fun but also brings about some sadness, cuz i miss my friend. Here is a link for the anthem i did on july 2nd for those of you who missed it ....
http://www.cshs86.com/forum/downloads/McDermott_7-2-06.mov
Thanks for getting me through this hard time of waiting....your support is really what keeps me going....and without it....i'd have drowned.
m

bit the big apple

2006-05-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

how do?? back from new york...had a really great time....stayed at the chelsea hotel...which was a complete dump but totally loved it and felt so at home there...maybe i'd been there in a past life....kidding.....thinking of dylan thomas, thomas wolfe...bob dylan and of course where sid killed nancy.....in fact that rug in my room either had wine stains or blood stains on it....would need Dr. Henry Lee to know which it was....
the first gig at the bitter end was ok....just haven't been feelin myself up there lately...up there being on stage.....but the living room gig was a blast....even Troy said to me after the gig, " welcome back" and it did feel like i'd returned to a better form...maybe i just needed to shake the dust or rust....anyway....got two more shows coming up...one with my old pal, glen phillips from toad the wet sprocket and one at durty nellies....so i'm looking forward to that....still in this inbetween area of how much new stuff i want to play this far out before the record comes out....so i'm a little uncertain of what to do for that...My brothers Brian Koppelman and David Levien are getting ready to make the next " Oceans" movie..." OCeans 13"....knowing them...i'm sure it'll be great....they are making a whole casino from scratch out in hollywood for the filming...and they got Al Pacino in this one...sweet....Bobby Macintyre is gonna be in town this week with the Twilight Singers...so i'm looking forward to seeing him...thanks to everybody in new york for coming out...not gonna put a new song up on the myspace this week...but may debut a new new song...next monday....so be sure to tune it.....
God bless you all,
m

jester dances moonbeams

2006-04-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

with the cubs opening game less than a day away, i am indeed excited and daunted of what may very well, turn out to be another, in nearly 98 years of disappointment....Matt Suhar my new manager is still hard at work in getting the new album to labels, but still no news as of yet. Jester Dances Moonbeams....i'm not sure why that phrase is never far from the forefront of my mind.....its more of an image than a meaning....maybe someday i'll understand the mystery of why that is always on my mind. The Corporate Country Sucks show is going to be on this week...april 4th i think..which i'm eager to see, cuz from what i remember the interview was great....with me going into full detail about my fistfight i got into at the Beat Kitchen several years ago....hope the story makes sense....i was a little caught off guard when the interviewer Frank sprung it on me, as he knew the guy who started it and the girl it was over...i however have recently been told of new details that i was unaware of,...of how i really started the whole thing with some kind of tough guy confrontation to the guy who threw the first punch....anyway....i digress....can't wait to go to philly....i'm considering it the first of the new album gigs....really unsure of how to present it....or which songs work or which ones don't.....it always takes a little time to sort those things out...Anyway, Spring has sprung...God bless you all

here they come spinning out of the turn.....

2006-02-13T11:25:00.001-08:00

well it certainly feels like the home stretch......recording went great...did 8 songs....well kinda 9 but gave up on one...i think we are going to use 7 of those...but really just thrilled with the stuff....mastering on tues....getting dubs made weds....and start sending stuff out on thursday....

did a show the other night at the improv olympic ( I.O.) and it was their one year anniversary....they were all great folks to work with and i wish them much success in the future....go check them out when you can,....it was called " the late night, late show"
starts at midnight...so get a nap in ......

i did two new songs for the show and had a little chat on the couch with the host....

gotta run...got calls to make and people to yell at....kidding....

i think there will be a paddy's day show in there somewhere....nothing confirmed yet....but stay tuned...

m

here they come spinning out of the turn.....

2006-02-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

sex and the city?

2006-01-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

i know it sounds nuts...but have become pretty obsessed with this tv show.....i'm always about ten years late on things....started loving janes addiction after they broke up...didn't see " braveheart" til it was on video....same with "gladiator", started watching " seinfeld" when it was off the air and now " sex and the city"....maybe its the being 30 something and single that resonates with me so much....and its probably way uncool of me to talk about this....but there are some very poignant moments on the show....now on to other things....

a week from today i am going back into the studio to do more recording.....the new record hasnt' really fulfilled my own expectations and i think i may have missed it on a few songs....so i am going in and going to produce stuff myself....and redo some songs and maybe even try a new one or two and we'll see where we stand after that....so wish me luck....

doing a fundraiser for a lawyer running for judge...which i figure is a good move for the next time i'm in jail.....which could be any moment....

God bless and speak to you soon,

m

jack ruby was murdered

2006-01-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

well its just a theory.....i just wrote a blog on the myspace thing...and now i think i have to do another one....or could i just ask you guys to go to myspace.com/michaelmcdermott and read the blog there.....it'd save me some time...and i got songs to write for crying out loud!!...i do feel like perhaps i have neglected this blog....next time i write, i'll write a good one here and blow off the myspace blog....fair enough...

go see " Munich"

go tell someone you love, that you love them

send an email telling someone your thinking of them

call your parents

silently wish someone Gods blessing while you look at them

silently wish someone you see on the street, something beautiful

how do

2005-11-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

hey everybody...checking in from an internet cafe....shows have been unbelievable....juliet turner is great, and kind and simply wonderful....she draws huge crowds...and they all listen....have had two fantastic shows with her and had a great show with stefan hanvey ( who is also just awesome\....sold a bunch of cd's, had to call the folks to fed ex me some more....great attentive audiences....having the time of my life...as a person and as an artist....just what i needed.....my heart was gettin dangerously empty.....feels pretty full now....

cheers,

m

motherland

2005-11-16T19:23:00.000-08:00

so heading over tomorrow for my first official tour of ireland...quite happy about it....yet still somehow...kind of unsettled....couldn't tell you why....just am....need to stay focused,....can't drink too much....gotta be safe on the roadways,..
need to kick ass....need to wake up...need to open my eyes....need to embrace wonder...need to share....need some communion...need some surrender....
hope everybody is good.....hope y'all can make it to the dec 8th show in la....thats a big one....gonna be industry folk there...need a good turnout.....
see you soon i hope

the king of ireland

a.k.a
mickey

Stronghold

2005-10-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

Two days ago i was a guest speaker at a youth teen retreat in michigan....i spoke and then would play songs within the speech...i'd like to thank them for having me come and share my story with them...i'm considering whether or not to post the speech...still undecided...posting a monster set of tunes on myspace this week...may keep them there for two weeks....was also thinking of doing a poll of myspace tunes.....a vote of what songs you would like to see or hear again and available for a download....would be curious of 2 what songs you guys like more than others....i'm doing two shows at schubas on dec 16, 17th.....not sure how i'm gonna make them special but i think i am having a country band as my backing band....they are called the outlaw family band and they are amazing....this is unconfirmed but i think its gonna happen....hope everybody is doing well....

mm

hallelujah.....

2005-10-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

greetings to all, and to all...WAKE UP !
been sleeping way too long....shake the dust from the closets of your heart....bust down the doors of depression and fear. and judgement....
fear ( FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL)....
come down to the horseshoe on friday....it'll be a gas....so REAL suprises....when i told joe( my buddy and owner) what i had in store..he called the next day to say he is no longer able to sleep from worry.....so i hope its not disasterous....but if y'all come down and have some fun...it won't be...free food and drink til ten....i don't know about you....but i'm looking forward to it....

God bless you all.....

m

the ways of a malaise, and september days in barcelona

2005-09-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

sup everybody?....thought i'd say hey....not much going on to report unfortunately....still trying to determine who is going to be on the team this time around...publicity, agency, marketing, art design etc...takes alot longer than you'd think...i always expect things to go much quicker....and you'd think after all this time i'd know this fact by now, but i inevitably end up getting most frustrated with the lack of alacrity with regards to determining all these things....so that being said, or written...i've decided to start working on the next record..its the only thing i can do to keep my mind off of relationships, flood, famine, pestilence, disease, hunger, homelessness, lonliness, deception, the inhumanity of humanity, poverty, war, emptiness, desire, and when the record is going to come out....
recording the first official new song to be considered for the next record....called " night blooming jasmine"....so taking a break from that....you'll probably be hearing that song on myspace in about two years....so this would be a good trivia question...one i myself, will undoubtedly forget....glad to hear mary weathered the storm....as well as our buddy joe hardy in houston...no gigs planned for a while....wanna keep a low profile til the new record comes out in the new year.....hope everybody is doing good though...thanks for listening....doesn't it seem like the first few days of autumn always feel weird?
m

towers of london

2005-09-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

so i just arrived home last night...a little conflicted. I had such an amazing time, that i wasn't quite ready to come home..
Bobby and i left wednesday...and were both able to get upgrades to business class ( Sweet !) got to Heathrow and then had a three hour bus ride to Cheltenham....so pretty beat to say the least after we got there...ended up meeting the newest of the group of angels...David that night in the pub...what a wonderful man..but i'll get to all that
Stayed in a 15th century hotel that used to be owned by the de la bears.....it was stunning,....
first gig was cool and i was nervous as hell....did it with two other songwriters and an author and steve stockman...
wounded, i shall be healed and still haven't found what i'm looking for....my voice was rough and my nerves were shot...but i think i did better with the banter than the songs...
the author on stage, alister something or another was this intense scottsman...bearded and wild eyed...but brilliant....he and i had a few funny moments...well...he was talking about the bardic tradition and how most colonizing countries, the first thing they do is to stop all the bardic tradition from the people they just defeated....well...i just realized this isnt' gonna translate but i even got the whole laughter, followed by applause...cuz of how funny it was...really i was just being a jackass cuz i was so nervous...my mouth wouldn't stop. Thankfully...it was pretty funny....could have been disasterous...
(i told a semi joke later at the borderline days later...bout big ben not being that big...that was met with silence.)

steve asked me back later to do the opening prayer of his talk on u2 and tutu....

later i had my first solo full gig...can't remember alot about that.....

next day i,...hmmm...what did i do...oh,..had another solo gig which went great....did the walk off,...closer walk with thee thing and got an encore and as david said on the paupers board...that doesn't happen too often...
then did a gig in the record store on site....

got to london and after being in the remote country was quite a shock...t'was great though...though extremely expensive...
for bobby and i ...two burgers, chips and two beers, runs you about 75 bucks american....

the borderline gig was a thrill....the sound was great...people were great...performance was pretty damned good i think...forgot to do wall...but did about 70 minutes i think...

met a guy named martin who had just left his wife and she had taken his cd's and the answering machine with 620 on it...so i took him into the dressing room and sang it on his new machine...pretty funny..but pretty cool...met some great folks from england, jacobo was there with his beautiful wife, some guys from norway, some from southern london...people were from everywhere and it warmed my heart beyond belief....thanks to bobby and david...two of my angels for making this dream come true....i'm awed by their dedication and passion for helping this music be heard...i could never repay them.,though i'm sure they want me to...kidding of course...i will repay them, i hope to repay all of you here...thank you all,,.God bless you all, and God bless the people of the southern united states...i'm just beginning to realize the magnitude of the disaster here....geez i leave for one week and you guys have to go have a disaster without me...not fair at all...not one bit.
m

my most humble thanks

2005-08-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

i wish to thank everybody that participated in the mcbirthday present this year...it is truly amazing.... best one yet, if the idea was to give back to me what i've given through the songs...well i guess this next record better knock you out ,to get me back even with the house. This one really knocked me out,....tomorrow i go away to england and i feel fully energized, Like i got the strength of all of you with me...and that is priceless...thank you and God bless you, you made me feel love today....that is a rare and beautiful thing.

talk soon...

m

the wee hours of the morn, and a talk with Pete Yorn

2005-08-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all,
just got back from LA....with a mastered copy of the new record in my hand....though we are going to redo some of that as well. Sounds really great....couldn't be happier....getting off the plane at midway with the smell of potbellys filtering through my senses....it was damn good to be back...got a two shows this week...weds at north ave. going on at 6pm...for 75 mins...with Bobby Macintyre, Dominique and Heather on fiddle....should be a hoot...got a gig the next night in oshgosh wisconsin...that will just be me, bobby and dominique...doing a more acousticky thang....
so i was at the mint one night and pete yorn was there....i went out back to talk to a buddy and pete had come out ....and he passed and i introduced myself....he introduced me to his friends ( one of which i knew,..manages minnie driver) so as Doc and i were talking Pete...interrupted and said " wait, are you a singer?" followed immediately by..." no, no,..i'm thinking of somebody else.....there was a singer in the early 90's named Michael McDermott" i replied , " yep...that was me" he then followed with ..." Wait,...that Surf album...." i said " Yep" and then he bursted into singing " Faith is a wall i must climb...Holy shit man...I love this guy " then proceeded to throw his arms around me in an embrace....He pulled back and looked me over and said " dude, we used to crank up that record back home when we were younger...but man...how old are you?" i said " 35" he said..." i thought you were like, 35 when that record came out"
so it was pretty cool...we talked about what each other was up to...and it was a real nice chat..with a guy who appeared to be a real great guy....
heading to England next week...day after my birthday....so excited about that to say the least....then the real work for this record begins...it'll be like 5 to 6 months....of doing the best job of setting this record up that i can do...to give it the very best shot of making a difference....with everybodies help....i think this may be the one...

To Health and Happiness,
mm

life, through stained glass

2005-07-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Heading out to los angles tomorrow....had a nice time here at home...had such a blast at sheffield garden walk...nick, nikki and heather...were all just on their collective games. Going back into the studio on wednesday for a few hours to do some minor tweaking and then going to put some real drums on " No Words" and that oughta do it....my folks are even coming out to LA for a few days...that should be interesting...got a show next thursday at the mint...gonna do it solo..but have a few guests up on stage....so i'm hoping some of you will make it...was weird last time i played the mint...so i'm hoping this time will be different or at least more inviting...felt pretty disconnected last time...not sure if it was me, the audience, the club...unsure...
thats about it from paupers central...God bless you all,...stay safe, keep spreading the word...we got alot of work to do yet....thanks to everybody.,..sincerely.

mm

London Calling

2005-07-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

Been home for a week now and finally catching up on much needed rest....as the saying goes " things in motion, stay in motion" so after a little respite i'm ready to get back to work...Heard the first round of mixes for the album and i'm quite pleased...a few things i want to revisit...some minor tweaking...maybe one structural change...but other than that its good to go....Heading back to LA on the 25th..got a show out there the 28th and doing a three song set at some other club on the 30th....Still undecided how much of this stuff to play live...i hate debuting songs 5 months before the album comes out...but i'm anxious to start playing them..however i think i'm inclined to hold off on them at least for a few more months....i'll try and take pleasure in alot of the songs i've been playing, cuz a good portion of them...will be put out to pasture...and may be some time before they ever see the light of day again....Getting all the paper work ready for England...amazing the amount of forms to fill out and visa stuff etc....David in England has been such a great help on that end as well....
There is some tentative plans of going to Ireland in October to do some dates opening for Nick Kelly who is quite the star over there....so that too would be quite a thrill....
Started reading the Studs Lonigan trilogy...by james t farrell...pretty cool actually....a gangster in new york had told me to read it years ago...i bought it but never openend it...but its really quite good thus far...
Getting all ready for Sheffield Garden walk..playing with Nick Kitsos, Dominique and Heather....been wanting this festival for quite a number of years...so hope its as cool as i had made it out in my mind to be...
Hope everybody is doing well.,...and finding time to smell the flowers...

m

greetings from the studio

2005-06-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

just taking a break and thought of writing you guys...gals too,...but of course....day two in the studio...had the amazing bobby macintryre in playing drums yesterday and we did....just a little blue, american in me and long way from heaven....he was incredible,...don't wanna give too much away...but if the rest of recording goes this well...well...nevermind....hope everybody is doing well....

glad to see the responses from monday morning madness....it is quite insightful...so thank you for the comments....

saw cinderella man...thought it was great/....finished the book " razors edge" dug it....didn't knock me out though....

uh...not much else really.....

saw a great documentary on the new york dolls at the LA film fest.....great movie...didn't know anything about them and it was quite insightful.....

my anthem went really well/...and of course had some funny elements to it....of course...too long of a story to go into now...in fact...just heard my name called....gotta go....God bless.

m
santa monica, ca

4th street

2005-05-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

SO I'm beginning some recording on June 16th with a guy named Jim wirt in los angeles ..met jim through dominique....jim has done albums for fiona apple, incubus, hoobastank, peter case to name a few....may seem like an odd pick but that was intentional.... we shall see what comes of it....not sure what songs we are doing yet....there are so many to pick from...that indubitably will be the hard part. Thank you to the folks in LA that came out to the mint last week...i had a good time....its always weird playin in LA...never gotten used to it....There was a point in the show where i was saying something and the crowd didn't seem interested and so jokingly i tapped the mic with my forefinger and said " is this thing on?" the soundman came thru his mic and said " yes its on"..i replied back, " i know...i'm painfully aware of this" so to say i killed the room would be a great exaggeration....i had fun though....sound was odd...oh and in LA ...you don't get soundchecks....thats nice....sorry its been so long since writing....hope everybody is doing great...i'm reading " razors edge " now....going to see " kingdom of Heaven" tomorrow.....saw a cool flick " the woodsman"...would like to thank Stephen King for writing about me in EW...
Doing Sheffield Garden walk this summer...july 23rd i think.....cubs continue to lose....
not writing a whole bunch now....today was actually one of the first times in a while....kinda wanna get a batch of songs down cuz that kinda dictates where you and/or your characters need to go.....like reading a road map in the dark....( hey thats pretty good)...spring has sprung....enjoy it...God bless ...be safe...take care of one another....
m

Easter

2005-03-28T12:13:00.000-08:00

a day of ressurection...always seems like good friday in chicago is miserable and easter is beautiful....considering what those days represent,..its kinda weird. Although i know that it was beautiful in LA on friday..so that blows my whole mystical take on it.

anyway....had fun at the barn show the other night...thanks to everybody for coming out...i do appreciate it...tried out a bunch of new songs...misguided companion, whole lot better, molly mockingbird, lamb and the lion, antique store, i think that was it....
got that april 9th gig and then i think i'm outta here for a while...late june or july is my guess...
still trying to put to bed, the making of this next record....these things always seem to take longer than it should...always the case i guess when money is involved...God, do i hate the endless discussions about money....i know its necessary, but just so unpleasant.
How about the Illinois game against Arizona...perhaps one of the best games i've ever scene..certianly the best comeback....jordan's final game as a bull may be the only game i rank higher.
Not much else to report...should be some new developments soon...but its the hurry up and wait part of this biz that i find myself in presently.
Hope you all had a good easter and that it shed some light on some of the beauty in your life you may have overlooked....
God bless you all,
mm

LA trip

2005-03-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

hey everybody....just got back from LA last night....was out there almost a week....and just had alot of meetings that all went well....some tough decisions to be made...Went and saw Tommy Stinson on friday...then saw the amazing Susan Marshall on saturday...who had special guests, Greg Duhli, Lucinda Williams, Rob junkless, Tim Easton,..talked to Dhuli and easton...nice fellah's....lost my phone last night....The Celebrity sightings were....Keanu Reeves was having dinner at the table next to Dominique and I at a place called the Short Room....Saw Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame at hotel cafe....Saw Jimmy Fallon who was having dinner at a table two behind me at a wonderful place called Carmines....and met Billy Gibbons at El Compadre on Sunset....what a loon....Got two shows over the next two days....so i'm looking forward to getting back to playing music instead of talking about it...
Hope everybody is well....good to hear Mary is back....these may be the last shows in chicago for quite some time....so hope to see y'all out there.....
Later,
m

wings and things

2005-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

So the jukebox is up and running again on myspace...and we have taken a fall in the charts in the folk/rock catagory...so hopefully this will increase intrest in you guys going to the site over there....Had a great time at the Chicago Street Theatre the other night...something about that place that seems to bring something out of me....thanks to all in attendance
if the jukebox stays as is...we will start our monday morning musical madness....as of now we have a home demo of " Perfectly Imperfect" on there....
hope you guys enjoy it....don' t forget about the release of " Ashes" in europe and i have a show on Sunday at the WXRT Wingsfest....starting around 3:30pm....hope to see you there...
Headin to LA again next week for more meetings...will keep you posted...thank you SO MUCH....to everyone...for everything..all the time....Really....

God bless,
m

europe, la, and a town called valpo

2005-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

hey everybody....i somehow got myself doing two blogs now....one on myspace and one here...the original...that being said...i will try and make them different or even be a total jerk and give certain info on one and other info on the other.....a sort of blog scavanger hunt, if you will...This past monday Feburary 14th "Ashes" was released in much of Europe....( germany, austria, spain, italy, france, can't remember the rest) so i implore you to ask anybody you know from said countries to go to the stores and ask or preferably buy the copies over there and start spreading them around....that has always been a dream of mine to be able ot go overseas and play...please help with seeing this dream into a reality. The LA trip was great...met with alot of great people and going back there in two weeks to do a second round of meetings with my partner Bobby. Will keep you posted as to how those go...and also i believe we are going to do a LA show in late April....still getting details sorted for boston,ny and philly... Hope to see those of you from the area in Valpo this sunday....i always love playing this place...so expect some suprises....God bless everybody here....peace be with you all... mm

gimme myspace

2005-02-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

so i've heard about this site for sometime now and my partner and i bobby...set up a page there....its in the beginning stages but apparently it is quite a community and so we thought we'd get on it and then build it as we go....so i invite you to go to www.myspace.com/michaelmcdermott and then i think you can invite others to go....it takes about a second to sign up....so would guys and gals go there and then i think you can send invites to others....lets see what happens.....i think they rate you to per visit so the more we go the more notice we get......as always...thanks.....

in other news....going to LA on wedsnday for some meetings regarding the next record.....will keep you posted...

God bless,
m

Thrilled to Announce

2005-01-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

i am thrilled to announce the release of " Wounded: Healing the Emotional and Spiritual wounds underlying shame and addiction" It is something that Dr. Paul Fleischer and i have collaborated on and it is truly an honor to see his vision come to fruition. Dr. Paul will be interviewed in the next newsletter and to read more about it...its on our links page under Healingworks...at least go read more about it..cuz i believe its something special. As one who has addressed healing in much of my work and as one who works on healing through much of my life...i think this can be an amazing tool for anyone with such, anxiety, self- doubt.. hurt...I am just honored to be associated with this project. Thats all i have to write right now....peace to you all
....m

Sunrise, Sundance, Sunrise, Sundance

2005-01-23T23:34:00.000-08:00

greeting to everybody....my sunday blog...well it was a wirlwind week...we had a great rehearsal on wednesday and i noticed that if you rehearse a band they sound a whole lot better when you play a gig...
the band made me proud this week....really great...we did a bunch of new stuff...was hard to get all the stuff in there and still play some old stuff....also i hate giving away a bunch of new stuff...way before its released...
I really want to thank EVERYBODY for coming...braving the elements...it was humbling and touching...i got some great gifts from you guys too....which is always so kind of you...nice to see some old faces( you ain't that old!) and meet some new ones....Thanks to XRT for coming out to the show on thursday and for promoting both of them....i'm going to sundance on wednesday and coming back friday to do a show for...

CHERISE CLIMBS FOR A CAUSE
Michael McDermott will perform on January 28 at the Newberry Library in Chicago, as a fundraiser for "Cherise Climbs for a Cause" benefiting the American Brain Tumor Association and the Evanston Northwestern Hospital Neuro-Oncology Program. Cherise has been battling a brain tumor for 12 yrs. Tickets to this event are $100, and include food, cocktails, a silent auction, and, of course, Michael's performance. For more information, or to purchase advance tickets, call 708.784.1162.

so that will be friday and hope that some of you can come out and support a wonderful cause....again my most sincere thanks to all of those of you who helped make this past week so special...God bless you all....Peace be with all of you....
Slainte,
m

monastic madness

2005-01-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

so two days away from the abbey... i appreciate all your suggestions for older songs to resurrect and have been considering all the possibilities...trust me, that you will be hearing some of them on one of the two nights...perhaps both on some. Thursdays show is supposed to be shorter and doing a full length on friday but once i get up there...they may both end up being lengthy.
Saw " the aviator " this week...thought it was really good....haven't been a big Leo fan but thought he did a great job....compared to " gangs of Ny" anything would have been better.
This will be the last band gig for a while and perhaps the last for this lineup...so i promise if not a technically great show...it will be an inspired one to say the least....I do hope to see many of you there...bring all your friends, your family, co workers, lothario's, enemies, ghost writers, teamates, traitors, strangers, cabana boys, drug pushers, politicians, reporters, parents, pets, punching bags, explorers, tv anchormen/women, garbagemen, the kid that shovels your driveway/walkway, chauffeur, dj, house painter, interior designer, insurance salesman, or anybody else i couldn't think of....thanks everybody...see you soon.
m

so as the day goes...

2005-01-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

happy sunday....always a good blog day for me....i'm sorry to say nothing has been really happening...haven't been writing or playing....i think its good to do that from time to time...to recharge the batteries...
starting to talk about another record already...there's about 25 songs in contention....that i'm seriously considering...and our inner circle is presently spending time with those and we will pick, well, i'd guess 15 of which 11 would make the record....its a interesting process....trying to see where the record should go...what songs make sense together....not to scare anybody off but i'm thinkin this record might be a bit of a departure from my previous albums....not sure how exactly...a few different ways i could see it going...i would like to hear from you guys and gals out there...what of the new songs you have heard over the last few years that you would love to hear on a record...not to be a pretentious braggart but there are so many songs that sometimes i just plumb forget about them...not cuz they aren't worthy or good enough....it could be something as simple as it didn't fit my mood one night...i forget the words and forget to relearn them...next thing you know...i've completetly forgotten about the existence of the tune as a whole....
so tell me what new tunes you like...and what unreleased stuff you have heard that you think i should consider for putting on an album....cuz hell...you guys are the ones that buy them.,..so who better to ask....so bring it on...if you start a thing on pauper...i will read it....

looking forward to the abbey shows....the first night is a freebee so i'm trying to think of things to do the second night to encourage people to come to that one as well...the first show will only be an hour tops...and doing probably a greatest hits show....second one...we will be doing...new tunes and some of the oldies....also./..would love to hear from you about songs you would want us to play on the second show( friday the 21st) ...if there are a bunch and we don't have time to learn as a band....i could do them solo...in fact if you have a band song you've never heard acoustically and want to hear that....specify that...

hope everybody is doing good and fighting off the doldrums of winter,...cuz they are seeping in over here..
God Bless ,
m

Upscale Dive, 2005

2005-01-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everybody....hope you had a good one...i had alot of fun....any of y'all see us on the tele? My mom taped it...so i saw it...its always so weird to see yourself on tv...never have gotten used to it...is that what i really look like??? anyway the band stepped up in star fashion...everybody played great and i think they all had a good time...we ended up going to the Horseshoe afterwards and rang in there new year there...the band had a flight at 6:30am so we just stayed up and drank from the minibar ...in my room of course!! to the tune of 83 bucks....yikes! But what the hell...new years right??

we got the abbey coming up and we plan on doing a bunch of new tunes for that...i know i keep promising and not delivering but its a new year....as dylan said " forget the dead you left they will not follow you"...so onward we go...hope you all come along...its been a good 2004...cant' say great...but i'm glad and humbled by your support and i want to thank you for giving me the opportunity and the honor of playing for you my songs...i thank you with all humility....May God bless us all this year....everybody deserves at least one really good one...maybe this will be it huh? you gotta believe....sometimes faith is all you got left....and love...here's a great quote about love....talk to y'all soon enough....

" True Love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about but few have seen "
Francois, Duc de La Rouchefoucauld.....1613

CHICAGO TONIGHT, TONIGHT

2004-12-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

i just found out i'm doing an interview and a performance on "CHicago TOnight" tonight....i guess it starts at 6pm cdt...on channel 11....

hope everybody had a great xmas...i had a great one.... but there always needs to be a little drama in the Murphy household....my neice who has had some struggles, in the past...totaled my parents car on new years eve....the day after she wrecked her boyfriends car....she went to the hospital but was released...and is fine.,...only problem is that she is suffering from an acute case of jackass.....

New Years eve sold out i see....pretty cool.... i have a couple of xtra tickets so i want to do a contest to see who wins these tickets..... i'm assuming only people in chicago will participate....but what lyric appears in both "Ashes and Beneath the AShes....you can write to me directly at michael@michael-mcdermott.com
i will check the answers by tomorrow at noon and will pick the first two correct answers to win tickets for you and a guest....

may we begin?

healing

2004-12-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

so just got back from Philly and had a great, great time there....if i wasn't such a "chicago" guy if i didn't have " chicago" tattooed on my forehead i'd move to philly....many thanks to..troy, gary, dennis, theresa, adam, donna, karl, bruce, kim, noreen, danny, my band, and all in attendance at WCL...for making it so great...
i was pretty hyped on the joint and considering the level of hype i still dug it....

just listened today to an advanced copy of Dr. Paul Fleischer's new cd set called " Wounded" its something he and i worked on ...me, music and him doing...affirmations and guided imagery...its really great...i listened to it today and though i've never done affirmations...it was pretty cool....the guided imagery part....they said not to do while you drive...but i did it driving anyway...it was so relaxing and i'm considering doing that before shows....a half hour before i go on....seems like it might have the same effect that yoga would have...a centering, relaxing, meditative state....it will be for sale soon...just not sure how or where...but i do the background music and there is a companion disc of songs of mine....

thanks everybody...will check in before xmas....hope everybody has the spirit...peace be with you all,
m

displacement

2004-12-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

man, has it been two weeks since i last posted....where has my mind been?....certainly not with me...not sure where exactly....adrift....at what point in your life do you accept who you are and stop struggling to be who you are not? i guess before you get to that answer...the question you should ask...is ....."who are you?, who am i ?" Should you know? why do you have to? if you don't, are you directionless....? seems like through life there would be constant changing and redefining who it is you want to be....but what if thats not the case...what if you DO know who you are.... should you embrace that...even if there are certain qualities or plenty of them, that your not pleased with.... is trying to wage a battle on those things( those shortcomings) being untrue to your true self??
or is just accepting your shortcomings, your imperfections and saying, " to hell with it...thats who i am" is that just laziness and a desire to sweep all the mess of your life under the rug. To bury your head in the sand and pretend your still perfect.

just wondering

God bless....
m

december the first

2004-12-01T15:41:00.001-08:00

woke to snow on the ground this morning....smiled.... but damn its december....had the show at double door the other night with peter himmelman and minnie driver....got there for soundcheck and was quickly introduced to minnie who said ,..." i've heard so many great things about you" we talked a bit about the world cafe place in philly ( which i'm playing in a couple weeks, she said, its amazing) anyway...talked a bit and i saw himmelman come in...a man i'd be aware of for some time....i watched him walk around the room while minnie was soundchecking and i approached him for an introduction....wel chatted a bit and he seemed like a great fella....
my set was fine...played 20 minutes....so it was over before it really began but i played...arm, hellfire, wall, long way to heaven, 20 miles....

peter apparently said to my manger, " he's way too good to opening for us" which was nice....

had many friends there and it was a great time.....

peter and i ended up talking about religion and life for about an hour after his set...and was such a wonderful conversation for a very intuitive and insightful man....we talked about doing some shows together in the future...i would be very happy about that....
when i was leaving i went to say goodbye to minnie and give her a hug and though she was about to do a shot of what appeared to be jagermeister....we hugged and she said to me, " amazing set"...i replied, " what are you talking about? you werent' even back from the hotel when i got off stage "...she appeared suprised and in her english accent said, " i know...but i got your cd now "...i then said...." i'm just teasing you...good meetin ya"

my manager also informed me that the european label wants me over there doing some shows....so i was thrilled to hear that....that will be a dream come true.....

little else to report...oh the barn of barrington was a great night....sound was weird in the place but i enjoyed the performance....was kinda fun to do some stuff i hadnt' played in a while...upside down, belong, smoke.etc.

hope everybody is safe and healthy....God bless.

m

artest or artiste

2004-11-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

how do everybody? been an odd couple of weeks....well a couple of things first....Got a call from new york the other day from some woman at ASCAP( which is a, uh..well they look after tracking songs on radio/tv/movies/bars etc) anyway....apparently they and heinken( good beer) have a grant for helping songwriters and apparently of a gazillion songs....they picked " Dance With Me" as the winner of best pop/rock song and i won a check and will get some good publicity from it as well....I never win anything....so it came as quite a shock....

i believe its almost official that " Ashes " will be out in many parts of Europe on Blue-Rose records....pretty exciting.....

Christmas season coming up and though i'm am thrilled with the number of orders...we made it so cheap so you guys would be able to give em out as presents for the season....i'm grateful and honored by your continued support but not seeing as many new names as we would like....so order BTA for other people they wont know how much it costs and we'll send it to them and if you want us to put a note in it we will....gotta start shaking things up and get a new groundswell going....like the republicans....sorry bad joke

the bodeans gig was fun...beautiful theatre....funny moment i was soundchecking and i was playing " One way to go " on piano and Sammy came out of the shadows on stage right and though i wasn't singing he started singing " Murder on Her Lips" but he was changing the words around and it was pretty funny...but the lyrics he was using i can't really repeat.

Ron Artest is insane.

Don't forget to vote on Wxpn's albums of the year....pretty please??
XRT's will be coming up shortly too....

...was nice to watch endless hours of JFK shows considering the anniversary of his death./...wanted to see the movie " JFK" but was suprised not to find it anywhere on tv.

Have a GREAT THANKSGIVING everybody...i'm so thankful your here reading this...i'm honored...i'm humbled....God bless you !

slainte
m

11/16

2004-11-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

didn't even realize today was the day the record was going to be available....
sorry about the mix-up with the ordering and pricing...i was not made aware of these things until after the fact...so again sorry about the confusion...but in the long run i think 8 bucks for BTA is a pretty amazing deal...( one i never would have agreed to if i was kept abreast of these kinds of things)...first batch is going out tomorrow...so i will eagerly await hearing what you guys think of it.

Got show with the Bodeans friday...so looking forward to that....cant' believe they are charging 40-50 dollars a ticket and it sold out....good for them...just seems like alot....

well happy release day...hope everybody is happy....seem to be in a bit of a malaise still, myself...autumn fog of sorts...anyway....God Bless....

m

Tis Bitter Cold...

2004-11-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

cancelled the Cali trip...without going into the details.... and i've been a bit sick at heart....decided to stay home and write and record a song everyday....did this once before and ended up with 6 mediocre songs and
" My Own Little World"...so it was worth it i guess....
did a benefit at the abbey pub on sunday....was fun to play with Tj and Jack and Fitzy and Angelo again...was a great time...to help the Jeffery Pride Foundation....pediatric cancer...

was asked to remind you guys to vote on the Wxpn website for best show or album or song for me....course if you really feel its worthy of your vote....i would appreciate it....

Beneath the Ashes is almost ready....can't wait for it to be done already....soon my friends...so soon.

well back to the dungeon....

m

Aeschylus

2004-11-09T22:37:00.000-08:00

He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep , pain cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, come wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

swimmin pools....movie stars

2004-11-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

so i noticed that the new dates were listed on the tour page so this may not be much of a suprise but....doing a show at the rialto with the bodeans...a band i had toured with back in 91'....also did a private show with them in chicago ...and spoke with sammy in my dressing room while kurt proceeded to finish the encore without sammy,,,sammy didn't care,....in fact seemed amused by it....last time i played rialto square theatre was in 92 i think with richard thompson and was the last time i saw mike jordan alive....we went out after the show to have some drinks and he said he just wrote a tune...and leaned over in the crowded bar we were at and proceeded to recite the lyrics./.." there's just a little place around the corner...its called the watering hole...my credit's good with the bartender...etc...one more whiskey and water" i said..."man that sounds like a great song..."
was asked to do a quick set for minnie driver and peter himmelman...at double door at the end of november..only doing a 25 minute set so it'll be short and sweet...should be interesting...
and new years eve with big head todd and robert randolph...at navy pier ballroom...i'm practically a regular there...
a couple other things that aren't quite official so i have learned my lesson about crowing too soon....so thats all the official news as of now...My partner Bobby and I are heading to san fran a week from today( next thurs) to meet with KFOG...so i might hit some of you up the week following to start putting in some phone calls...yeah i mean you too South !...
doing a benefit at the abbey pub on sunday..this sunday...the jeffery pride foundation...gonna do a couple tunes and playin with fitz and the celts...i think it starts at 6 pm....

Gimme Shelter

2004-11-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

hey everybody.......over the past few months i have received several emails regarding peoples displeasure with me speaking on anything political....i'm sure some of it stemmed from where they sat politically... and today i have received a few phone calls from people making sure i hadn't killed myself....well i'm sure those of you who authored those emails must be happy.... i said on stage that night at martyrs...i just hope to God the right guy is elected...whoever that may be.....time will tell....
another thought that comes to mind is...God has a strange sense of humor...anyway...i did cut out alot of the political slants to my blogs...cuz i don't mean to offend anyone...but i do want to say...i don't live in a vacum...and nor do you so it seems silly not to have a discourse about whats going on in the world...right? was it Thoreau that said, A wise man keeps his mouth shut on the topics of politics and God " truer words never spoke....but i'm not wise...nor claim to be....but really....my apologies to anyone who took offense to what i'd written...but cant' we talk.?..can't we communicate?...i know i'm just a song and dance man...but ain't we friends too?....republicans, democrats, socialists, communists,vegatarians, pacifist, libertarians, unionists, loyalists, alienist,yellow people, brown people, tall man, short man, fat man, skinny lady.....they are all just words to me....hey man...i'm a humanist....thats all...When i kneel at the foot of my bed tonight...i WILL say a prayer for George Bush...cuz we got him...and i hope he knows what he's doing....for your sake, and for mine....NOW on to other news...cuz there is alot of it....ah hell...i'm too tired from that much....will tell y'all about it tomorrow...God bless us all...God bless all his children....Be kind....its gonna be one hell of ride.....

MARTYRDOM

2004-10-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

NO I'M not gettin political.....just getting ready for the show tomorrow...at Martyrs...funny i'd never really given the name of the song much thought...until today then i was thinkin....what an odd choice for the name of a club....Record Company dude is coming in ...so pretty psyched about that...so i'm hoping there is a real good turnout for it....been really sick for the last four days and today i'm just beginning to feel a little better...which comes as quite a relief...its been so bad that i wouldn't have been able to perform if the gig had been...say, wednesday....but all is well again...

Couldn't even go out and celebrate the Red sox victory....

check this out....pretty cool... http://www.mindthemind.com/vote.html

come on out to martyrs...supposed to be in the high 70's tomorrow...so lets have a last of summer blow out...going on at 11:15pm....hope to see you there....

5 more days til the election....my nerves are gettin the best of me about it....alot riding on this one....

you can't conquer fear with more fear....can't conquer hate with more hate......there's an old cliche that says something like...the only way someone who hates you wins....is if you hate them back.....true, true.

be kind to each other....we're all we got.....
m

End of the Pier

2004-10-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

so went to the USO ball on saturday to perform " Arm Yourself ". Didn't meet Gary Sinese but was sitting just a few tables away from him.... It was pretty awe inspiring....the honor, the commitment, the dedication that the troops have...is something to be revered. IT was in the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom.. same place the band played on Saint Patricks day and is in the video section with " when the irish were kings of ny"..Ms. USA was there( an attractive lass). Everybody involved in the USO were so great to work with. So thank to any of them reading this. It wasn't like any other gig...and while Gary Sinese was giving his speech, my nerves started hitting...considering the magnitude of the event....This is about life and death...my song wasn't ...but those people there...looking around at some of them....made me sad to think....some of them...perhaps not long from this very night....may be dead...may be killed....
it was a pretty powerful night....starting the tune with " in my time of dying " kinda took on a whole new meaning....
all that aside....they got cool uniforms....
Be safe everybody.....be kind
go red sox.....
m

Get your "Shoe's " on ( a word from our sponser)

2004-10-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday
8pm-3am

and now a word from our sponsers
I wanted to tell you guys about a place opening up this saturday in chicago called " Horseshoe" it is being opened by one of my dearest friends in the world Joe Lazar...it is located at 4115 North Lincoln( one block north of Irving) the grand opening is saturday and they got four bands playing there..amazing bbq food and plenty of cold beer....i have my uso show but will be heading up there afterward...sounds like an amazing place...hope to see you

sort of homecoming

2004-10-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

so my father has come home....seems to be feeling good....doctors never could find a single thing wrong....go figure...good to have the ole guy back....and thanks again to everybody who sent out a prayer, thought, sunlight...didn't go unnoticed....

i'm doing a photo session with this amazing photographer in LA the second week of November.... i met him on my last trip out there...t'was a party at his house and i asked to see some of his shots and he showed me his most recent session..." well here is some stuff i did the other day just here at the house" ...and it was Clint Eastwood...these amazing black and white shots.... i was like " clint was here the other day?"

done a bunch of stuff his name is jonas mohr....so i'm pretty psyched about that....

THe Yankee's/ Red Sox series is completely amazing.....

there was a copy of " No Words " up for sale on Ebay the other day...thanks to Mark Clark for pointing that out to me.,...so we had it yanked...but was troubling nonetheless....

have a great day y'all
i'll leave you with a quote from Cicero....." Law stands mute in the midst of arms"

m

blah, blah blah

2004-10-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hello,
thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers...my dad is still in the hospital...dr's still haven't been able to figure out what happened....they are encouraged that they haven't found any red flags but also concerned they are missing something....i've told him about your messages and he was clearly moved to hear that...so i can't thank you enough. Will keep you updated as soon as we know anything....

the monday morning basement tapes...is still gonna happen....its in the works...
also the video's from wall i must climb, just west of eden, summer days, baby i, arm yourself and hellfire are going to be available again....just a matter of time.

i've been asked to tell everybody that you do need to resign up for the mailing list...there has been an alarming low response to this....so please do re-enlist....
we wil be sending out the pre-order email for the " Beneath the Ashes" hopefully next week, it will be nice to have that out and will be nice to go back to playing some of those songs live...

hope this finds you all well.....

m

gratitude

2004-10-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

thanks to everybody who posted....what i'm gonna do is ,to try and print it and bring it to my father in the hospital....so i encourage everybody to write a little note.in response to " a mother screams"..like a grand get well card....
my sincere thanks....to all involved...God Bless

A Mother Screams

2004-10-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

woke to the sound of my mother screaming this morning at 4 am....i ran into her room,...found that the lights were on and my father slumped between my mothers sowing desk and his dresser...his eyes were open but he was unconscious....shallow breathing....i grabbed the back of his head and shouted..." dad? Dad? DAD! !" he came to....called 911...when the ambulance arrived and the paramedic's took his blood pressure it was 75 over 50....which seemed frighteningly low....the rushed him to the hospital where he is currently awaiting tests...
his blood pressure is back to normal....he's a tough Irishman....i pray he'll be ok....i think he will...but send him some smiles and sunlight will you ...thanks you guys...

m

grey day today

2004-10-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

first of all....Kat i am so sorry about your niece and so happy to hear about the birth of your child....the theory of convergence,....leave it up to the angles my friend...is about all you can do now.....

went up to michigan... still stink at golf...can build a damn good fire though....

have a record guy coming to the martyrs show so here's hoping a bunch of you can come down and make a bunch of noise...bring all your friends...kinda like the old days trying to recruit people to impress a record guy...kinda fun again...forgot how that felt....but i do hope, many of you can make the scene...there will be a new guitar player that night...kevin darish filling in for renee....should be exciting....

check out this website....http://www.freedomunderground.org/memoryhole/pentagon.php#Main

disturbing to say the least....

got the newsletter for approval and was really touched by janet's email to me...i'd like to thank her again for that....it moved me....also some funny stories...best newsletter yet...at least i thought so....

thinkin about going to london.....show all those brit's how to build a fire

desserts and deserts of thought

2004-10-11T13:45:00.002-07:00

did a gig last night at an amazing bakery in Glenview called " Dessert Gourmet" had a wonderful time and i insist that anyone in the area go visit for a orgiastic feast of the senses....truly amazing..i'd like to thank them and wish them much success as this will be the first day of business for them....

heading up to michigan to the wilderness.....gonna build a fire,..take some books...bring a guitar...be back thursday....gonna see what i can find....

" Silence is the best tactic for him who distrusts himself "

Francois, Duc de La Rouchefoucauld

perfidious

2004-10-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

well if we are on the subject of breaching of trust....i would like to shift gears and hope that i am not being perfidious in sharing this story.... i was told this story and it moved me so i'd like to share it with you...
a person i know( who will remain nameless) played " One way to go" at an AA meeting....he introduced it..only by saying " buckle up"...i was moved to hear that many in the meeting were moved to tears during its playing....i'd like to thank this person for sharing it...and for letting it touch others..... recovery is a little something i know alot about...its a struggle the likes of which you couldn't understand, unless you were ankle deep in it...i'm sure as time goes on i'll address this more...but this was just a story that gave me goosebumps and wanted to share it....

so our whole " monday morning basement tape" thingy is a little more complicated than i thought...my partner, Bobby O'Mullan and i are trying to make it more idiot friendly( mean we could do it ourselves) but at this point not sure.....i have great faith we will figure something out...however we may have to do it off a link instead of right there on the front page....will get back to you on that....

have begun a project with a longtime friend and fan in north carolina...i'm quite excited about it...wasn't my idea, and i think its a wonderful one at that...something i've always wanted to do.
we actually have been working on it for a few months...still a few months from completion....

got a couple new links up...dad brown being one...that link has pic's of a few famous people wearing their shirts....even a picture of me in the non-famous group....and an article....

Peace to everyone who reads this,

m

CIA OP

2004-10-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Robert Baer- 21 year CIA Operative,

The only person Saddam was a threat to was to the people of Iraq. He didn't have weapons of mass destruction....he wasn't scaring anybody....he certainly wasn't scaring the Iranians, The Turks or the Saudi's....It was a state that was on the verge of failure,...now...it is a failed state.
Failed states cause terrorism....you can name them,...Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia...anytime you create a vacum...it is where people flock to, who are discontented....to fight wars....

storm of saddened sundays

2004-10-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

fortune teller told me my lucky color this week is blue...thought i'd give it a shot....
sound the drums the cub season is over....Had an idea that i might try to implement to keep things interesting to y' all and get more traffic on the website...and the idea is...perhaps every friday or monday....i will put a new home demo up on the website for your free listening....
i wouldn't wanna give out stuff that has yet to be on a record or still has a chance to be but rather...demo's of songs you know ...in their earliest incarnation....i mentioned finding wall last week....and today ran across two of arm yourself...both pretty different from what actually ended up being recorded....sometimes songs create themselves....either by making themselves more beautiful and sometimes making them more ugly....
anybody else hate getting phone calls at 5 in the morning...?
think the release of the new record is going to be nov 9th....but we will be offering a pre-order possiblility, in the next couple weeks i think....
i went and listened to it the other day and , ( this ain't no sales pitch) but i think its really good...a person within the organization who is NOT a family member thinks its better than "Ashes".

go out and buy the book " Jesus' Son" by Denis Johnson...its great....
have you guys checked out the artist in sf by the name of Gregg Chadwick...his link is on the links page...he's pretty great....

our old friend Jack Carpender may be sitting in on a gig in november....sure will be nice to see him again....
Vprez debate on tuesday ought to be interesting....then round two on friday for the big boyz...
Listened to Daniel Lanois " beauty of wynona" record yesterday and boy thats some piece of work....
don't forget to call your radio stations...if they are playing the album and request it...please do...it really helps....
God bless and keep us safe this week....talk to you in a few days...
m

Mama said knock you out

2004-09-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

ok so it wasn't a knock out....but decisive to say the least for John Kerry....

cubs are pretty much lost for the season...had a tough day dealing with that one....

been working on a new tune which has been helping me get through the day...and kerry doing as well as he did...that helped.....

found the original demo of wall i must climb in a drawer today....should use that as a contest winner or something...its pretty cool...different... glad koppelman had the insight to see through its rawness....

might have a new gig at the field museum..day after thanksgiving i think....at the opening of jackie kennedy's clothing exhibit...which, as a kennedy fanatic...is pretty f#*&in cool..... aw to have jack back would be something huh?

a friend of mine said tonights debate was like... herman munster vs. Otis campbell
pretty funny....

God bless us all,
m

north korea and haiti

2004-09-28T13:45:00.001-07:00

can we all say a silent prayer for the children of north korea....hundreds of thousands of children live on muddy streets or in hostiles completely ignored by their government....essentially the government quarantines them in these hostiles so they can die....the pick crumbs out of mud to eat...bugs...human body parts...anything they can get their hands on....

and for the people of Haiti....geez they can never catch a break can they....?

its all our blood...they are all our brothers and sisters....send them some light....

and of course for the cubs.... magic number is 6.......

God bless you all.....

m

spring grove

2004-09-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

so dominique( bass player with me,,singer of drag..see link) is in illinois doing a movie...slasher film and they are filming in spring grove which is up by round lake, gurnee, fox lake...went up there yesterday to the set and it was pretty fascinating watching a movie being made...the tedium was overwhelming...i've done some video shoots and those are boring to...but thats for a four minute song...a whole movie...sheesh..the director or producer, not sure which asked if i wanted to be in the bar scene...just as an extra or something ....i said, " sure...love to"...will letcha know how that goes....gotta say i was getting creeped out on the set....so i'm guessing the filming will be twice as creepy...
had a dream i was on the phone with George W...last night.,..went quite well...he took to my idea's better than i thought he would...seemed like a nice reasonable man....course..then i woke up.....
go cubs....hope they can recover from the debacle of yesterday....
m

ashes to ashes

2004-09-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

"sometimes you gotta destroy before you can rebuild".....not sure who said it but..." amen" so welcome everybody,..to yet another incarnation of the mcdermott circus...hope you dig the new site....
a few changes have been made....Gregg Bell my dear friend and manager of several years is no longer with us...i'd like to thank him for everything he has done...we will remain dear friends...but unfortunately our working relationship has come to an end....I love him dearly and always will.

the woman who introduced me to Gregg,..Dawn Maze is taking over the operations of management.
Digital one who provided (at no cost to me) the previous website...have parted ways with us and i'd like to thank them for the opportunity they provided me....

Personally,..i'm going through some changes myself..but until i feel a little more comfortable in this new room or "ours" i'll keep those to myself...

I will tell you that we have a new record coming out in the next couple months that i am thrilled about....something unlike anything i've done in the past...more to come...stay tuned...

The website still has a few tweaks and i'd like to hear any and all feedback that you have...its still in its embryonic stages so there is still time to tinker with it....we will have the discussion board up soon and the contact thing figured out very soon....

first debate is in less than a week....how psyched am i.....should be fascinating....doncha think??

thanks to my new home out in philly you made the two sold out shows....a dream come true.....my most sincere thanks...see y'all in december at the new world cafe live...with the band..i will be doing some solo shows leading up to that...boston, ny, pitts i think...

i'm grateful and humbled by your support....God bless you...God bless you all....peace is possible,

m

beverly on a birthday

2004-08-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sup,....had a great weekend last weekend...( writing this monday nite) did the beverly arts center and was really happy with the show and turnout...thanks to all that came and made my birthday so special...great to see some old faces that i hadn't seen in quite some time..i was quite concerned about what the turnout would be...no real press...xrt wasn't promoting it...but anyway..again, it was great...thank you to those in attendance..my actual birthday is tomorrow,..going to my favorite restraunt in chicago with my folks and a good friend....got a few shows in the next couple weeks and then...i really couldn't say...not sure whats gonna happen...but you'll be the first to know....xrt upped the rotation of dance with me...so that proves those phone calls are paying off....don't stop now...773-777-8881....thanks guys...was a great weekend....love y'all.
m

parking lots, double shots

2004-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all,
woke up monday morning feelin like hell...not sure what it was that kinda knocked me over the head. The weekend certainly was fun...thanks to everybody that made it out. Quite excited about this show in beverly on saturday and i encourage everybody to come out...it is me and my mothers birthday show...so grab everybody you can and make it out to my birthday bash gig..

St. michaels gig was interesting. A little odd playing in front of so many people i used to know as a child and then to find yourself up there...dancing around...shouting out prose...discussing the shortcomings of your life through song...with people that once were as close as family and now familiar strangers...was a little disconcerting....but i'm glad i was able to see those folks...and glad to be playing music...just the combination of the two was a little odd.

hoping to get this new website up in a few days....but need some info from the old webmasters in order to move forward and haven't heard from them at all.... ITs always tough moving on from one business venture to another but it sometimes is necessary....

Laying on the couch the last couple days i'd recommend the following movies....sweet dreams, basquait, wings of desire......made the time and my mind free and beautiful....for that i'm grateful....

see you guys saturday....right? bring everybody....we are a family for chrissake !

m

the boys are back, chick too

2004-08-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

the band is coming into midway around 3:12pm on friday the 13th...i expect as many of you as possible to be out on the tarmack awaiting their arrival... beatlemania-like screaming is encouraged....cubby bear north on friday and then rocking st. michaels on saturday...Saw "the village" want to remind everybody about the beverly theatre on august 21st...my birthday gig..hope ALL of you can make that one....GOd bless everybody.....peace be with EVERYBODY.

A Simple Request

2004-07-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned this before...but phone calls to radio stations really help....those of you in chicago...we need wxrt to get excited again./..the phone number is 773-777-8881....give them a call and request something...this is a crucial time of the record.,...i need your help...those of you elsewhere i encourage you to do the same...i listed the triple a stations thoroughout the country in an update feb. 11th...thank you so much...

mm

Whew!!!!!

2004-07-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

What a week....or a blur...or a vivid dream....whatever it was...rehearsed on june 25th...a quickie...learned "puzzle" (which we never ended up playing) went through "leave it up to the angels" and a few other songs that escape my memory at the given time.
ANYWAY....did Summerfest...which was odd cuz Pat McCurdy opened up and if you never saw Pat...he's funny and clever but its pretty much the last thing i wanna hear before i go on stage...he's in too damn good of a mood ...it became grating....anyway...get up on stage and i don' know what it was if it was my fault of not but there was such an apathetic vibe from the audience...it never got off the ground...seems like i could have lit myself on fire and would have still gotten the same energy from them....
went to appleton that night...the next day was Danny Westman's birthday( our drummer) had another weird gig in appleton...cool club...but mediocre turnout ...some nice press but that did not seem to boost ticket sales.
came back and had a great gig at the lakeview music festival...t'was totally dead when we pulled in but by the time we started playing ...it became packed....band played great...great energy and the rain held ....SUCCESS!!!!!!!
Met Moises Alou in a bar that night and had a nice chat with him and Chris Chelios....
had a couple days off...went to Arlington...lost every race....
then played Fitzgeralds on thursday...which was nice to get back there but the 10:45 slot on a thursday...was a little slow....
Saturday we had Ribfest in Naperville...which i performed without a drop of alcohol in me...which was quite different...yet enjoyable...gotta remind yourself your not dependent upon things every once in a while...
then sang the anthem on saturday...which was fun..and the cubbies won 4-2....going to Boston tomorrow to play for a radio station...flying there and back same day....so its gonna be a long one....Hope everybody readiing is doing well...Peace be with you all ...
m

YO YO YO

2004-06-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

This is the strange time when your off the road for a little while and wanna get back out there...its the yo yo effect...you go from perpetual movement to stagnation overnight...its a strange place to be...
the record i think is offically coming out june 22nd..we are actually considering doing a tv campaign for it...and the commercial was made by mike hanish who does amazing work..so thank you mike....
going up to green bay and madison this weekend...i'm looking forward to that and to playing with the band again...
I heard XRT play " Baby I " the other day...so for those of you chicagoans...call em up and request it if you would 773-777-8881....every little bit helps....and i have other stations in areas outside of chicago...on the update page back to feb. 11th...if you wanna help in your area...hoping to have some new additions to the website soon...just don't know when as of yet..but staty tuned...thanks to everybody...as always..God Bless.....
m