The Music Biz: Mike McClure

Here we have two very different, albeit both quite spiteful, looks at the how the music business can affect you as a person - from Red Dirt pioneer Mike McClure.

“I was in a band for 10 years with the same guys, up and down the road for a long time. And I decided to leave it, and to do something new. That was a strange thing for me, but this is the song that came out of it; kind of the dealing with all of that.” – Mike McClure
Take the time to really listen to these lyrics – they’re as real as it gets. I imagine it’s a transcript of the things he wished he would have said to his former bandmates. However, in recording the song, he did just that.

Mike McClure Band: Just Not Good Enough

[purchase]

Although never fully verified, I’m convinced this is song dedicated to the fans that pose never-ending, pointless questions to artists each and every night at their shows. After a while it gets to the point where you can’t fake interest anymore. I’ve often sat back at Mike’s shows during this song and caught a shit-eating grin on his face as he eyes the guy who yelled out the request. Cody Canada of Cross Canadian Ragweed co-wrote the tune and offers his vocals on the first verse.

Mike McClure: In My Ears

[purchase]

The Moon: Moon Is Almost Full

Mike McClure Band - Moon Is Almost Full [purchase]


One of the few Great Divide songs to be re-cut later in his solo career, 'Moon Is Almost Full' is possibly Mike McClure's strongest writing effort to date. Here, he uses the fact that the moon is near-full to help explain his wild desires....


"The night drifts by in awesome wonder,
cast beneath a rolling thunder, as i cut a path across these golden fields.
Thoughts of her go floating backwards,
hoping happy ever afters, and raindrops from heaven's rafters are on my windshield.

Well it's turned into a new day, darlin',
try to hear your own heart callin', the time is now, there is no time to wait.
Follow on that path you've chosen,
slowly melting, come un-frozen, relieve your guard of his duty at your gate."

Mike is not well-known outside of his home base of Oklahoma/Texas, but he should be. One of the pioneers of the Red Dirt Scene, Mike McClure is a poetic, prolific songwriter that can also rip up an electric guitar.

Everything Upside Down was the first album billed as the Mike McClure Band. 19 tracks evenly distributed between steel guitar country, well-written ballads, and pure ROCK N' ROLL. Songs about leaving his former band, introspective self-therapy numbers, mythic tales of lands long gone, and even a tune about Elvis.
Check out my Mike McClure Artist Spotlight
(yes.... shameless self-promotion)