Edwin McCain A Modern Musician Essay Research

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As you sit back and listen to Edwin McCain’s first album,Honor

Among Theives, McCain’s incorporation of all kinds of music such as

rock, pop, jazz, and blues will surely amaze you. This is consistant

with his second album Misguided Roses,which incorporates the same

standards. These two albums provide a great mix of acoustic rock with

a hint of jazz and blues. McCain was successful with his first album

which included the hit song “Solitude.” He was even more successful

with his more recent album which includes the former number one song

“I’ll Be.” Through his lyrical genius and incorporation of different

styles of music, Edwin McCain has risen to be one of the best well-

rounded musicians today.

What attracts a person most are the lyrics that Edwin McCain

writes. He writes about life’s good times and also the struggles in

which people endure. In one of his songs, McCain writes about a man in

New Orleans who lost his father and a week later lost his wife. In the

song, McCain goes on to talk about life’s struggles and what we as

humans have to do to deal with these pains (Honor Among Thieves). He

shares his view of how life wears us down when he sings, “Like a stone

in a stream, life smooths all our ridges ’till we barely make a ripple

anymore” (Honor Among Thieves), which is from his song “Sorry to a

Friend.” McCain’s clever lyrics portray his views on young people such

as, “Youth goes hand in hand with foolish pride,” and his

love-as-a-war view saying, “The blood that was spilled in the

heartache before left road maps of scars that I never, never could

ignore” (Misguided Roses). Singing these lyrics with his soulful voice

with a slight touch of Southern charm, McCain makes you believe every

word that soars from his heart.

In addition to McCain’s amazing lyrics, his musical skills are

also very fine tuned. When compared to Dave Matthews, a well know

acoustic rock star, McCain measures up and even exceeds Matthews’

talents. The two artists both have superior guitar skills, yet

Matthews lacks in understandable lyrics and vocal quality. McCain

writes songs about life’s ups and downs while Matthews leaves the

listener wondering what is trying to be portrayed. Matthews’ voice is

piercing and almost shrill while McCain’s soothing tone and and

unbelievable range leaves a listener breathless. Matthews ,like

McCain, has his own style of music, but is limited in the style of his

songs. McCain uses different jazz feels and then hits you up with a

blues feel for the very next song. McCain is classified as an acoustic

rock performer which may do him an injustice. Someone who listens to

blues would love McCain’s raspy voice and the mellow tones of the alto

sax. A jazz enthusiast could definately appreciate the arrangement of

the music and the melodic sound of the trumpet and tenor saxophone.

Edwin McCain is no doubt a well- rounded musician with his usage

of different styles of music and his heart-felt lyrics. He brings his

love of blues and jazz into his own style of acoustic rock. He writes

about life and how he sees it like when he sings, “It’s not all that

hard to survive. You take the good and the bad and the time in

between. It let’s us know that we’re alive” (Honor Among Thieves).

These words are another example of McCain’s view on life. Music is

about feeling and McCain puts one hundred and ten percent feeling in

his music. For example, in his most recent hit song “I’ll Be” when he

says “The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful stop me and

steal my breath” (Miguided Roses). This is why Edwin McCain is one of

the best all-around musicians today.