This week on Time Signatures with Jim Ervin, Erv welcomes one of the new members of the next generation of the Blues, Sean “Mack” McDonald. Sean’s brand new album is called, “Have Mercy!” and is on the Little Village Foundation label-an album which has been nominated for the 2026 BMAs, by the way. Sean stopped in to discuss the album. He and Erv also talk about his early foundations in the genre, those three guitars gifted to him by Greaseland Studio owner and musician, Kid Andersen, and that phone call from the legendary Taj Mahal.

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This is Time Signatures with Jim Ervin, a podcast and radio program presented by the Capital Area Blues Society in Lansing, Michigan. Most any contemporary musical style can trace its roots back to the blues. Time Signatures explores the blues and its musical connections with captivating interviews, lively discussions, and news from the world of the blues. And now, here he is, your host, Jim Ervin.

Well, hey there, everyone. Welcome and thank you, Parker. I'm Jim Ervin and this is Time Signatures.

At least a few times since this program has begun, I have had the opportunity to welcome a younger musician who represents the next generation of the blues today. I am so very pleased to introduce those of you who may not have heard of him yet.

He is a true member of that next generation, and perhaps the most exciting part of this is that he is all about that old school sound.

His debut album, have Mercy, yet another fine product from Kit Anderson's Greaseland studio, is already gathering critical acclaim, and the future certainly looks bright for him. Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to welcome Little Village foundation artist Sean McDonald to time signatures. Sean, good to have you, man.

How are you?

I'm doing great, Jim, how are you?

I am well and it is so good to have you because I got to be honest, man, I've. I have wanted to talk to you for, I'm going to bet, probably close to six months because I was. Somebody put you on my radar.

Are you familiar at all with Earl Thomas? Does that name ring a bell?

Yes.

From out in San Diego? Yes. Yeah, we, we're sitting there talking one day and he's like, man, you have got to find a way to get this guy in your show. He is incredible.

And then turns me on to some of your videos and I was, I was absolutely blown away because there's not many people in your generation that, that hang in on, on the older school music, is there?

No, it's. It's not. And shout out to Earl Thomas. He's actually a. A cousin of a good friend of mine over here in Tennessee.

That's what I heard.

Yeah. So. So, you know, he's by proxy, he's family, but he. But no, absolutely, you're right.

I mean, the thing about it is a lot of us, I found, we study the music and we have a deep respect for the music, the older music, you know, the stuff that comes, that's coming out. And I mainly focus on the music from the late 40s to the early 60s.

And a lot of my, the music that I write is inspired by music from the late 40s to the early 60s. And so, and it's always just been something that I've been interested in since I was a kid.

So there was no way in the world that I could leave that out when starting my career as far as just what I gravitated towards all the time. So.

Well, it's, it's a good place. It really is, and it's not for everybody, but you certainly have chosen to make it a place for you and you're doing a damn good job at it.

Now, I want to assure you, I want to assure you that we're going to talk about this new album in just a few. But for those that know this program, I need to get some of your backstory first. Okay. If you would please talk about your earliest memories of music.

Where did it all start for you?

Well, it's funny that you asked that. MY, my father's side of the family, it goes back to before I was born.

So my father's side of the family, we have musicians and singers and stuff on that side of the family. Like my great great great grandfather taught shape note singing where, you know, people didn't know how to read music.

So you had to figure out the shapes and that would tell you whatever notes you're supposed to be singing. His, Let me see. My great great grandfather, he played banjo and diddly bow and that's on my dad's mom's side.

My great grandmother's father, let me see, who else? My other great Great grandpa, Stoney MacDonald, he played guitar and his brother played guitar.

So they both played guitar, blues guitar at their father's juke joint until after a number of years.

And they made a promise to someone that they were going to after, I think after either somebody died after the juke joint closed down, they were going to strictly play gospel music. So my great great granddad had an opportunity to play with B.B. King, but because he was playing in the church, he couldn't do it.

And so, and he taught people how to play guitar in his neighborhood. So when he passed, everybody that learned how to play from him played at his funeral.

My great grandfather, which is his son in law, he was a quartet singer in Arkansas. So they had a group called the Glory Wades. So this, like I said, this goes back to before, you know, I was even here.

My granddad's a drummer, my dad's a drummer. People on my mother's side of the family, they sing. Aunts and stuff like that, they all know how to sing.

And so my earliest musical memory was once again before I was born. My dad played jazz for me when I was in my mom's womb, you know, so I was born a jazz lover. And there's a picture of me, you know, as a.

Probably not even one years old yet. And I was sitting at the piano at somebody's house. So those are my earliest memories. I started playing drums when I was two years old.

I started playing piano for real when I was three, after I saw the Ray Charles movie. Movie. Because I was just so enamored with what he was doing and the music that I heard.

And, you know, almost 22 years later, I still get the same chills that I felt when I. When I first saw that movie every time I hear Ray Charles. So those are the earliest memories.

And of course, growing up in church, singing in the kids choir when I was younger, riding around with my family and listening to whatever they were listening to on the radio.

And it was a mix of stuff, you know, so it was anything from, you know, contemporary hip hop music to, you know, adult R and B, you know, the, you know, whatever was on the radio. Gospel music, old school music.

And then being in Augusta, growing up in Augusta, Georgia, there was a number of very talented musicians that I was able to be surrounded by at a young age. So you had cats like Wycliffe Gordon, who played with Wynton Marsalis, and, you know, of course, James Brown's from that city.

And you've got local guys like my uncle Rick Callaway, who was the, you know, one of the main reasons I started playing guitar, he had a band in the 70s and he. They backed up millions, you know, all these legendary artists like James Brown and Roberta Flack and Betty Wright and all these people.

One of my mentors, Tim Sanders, he played with Percy. He played saxophone. He played with Percy Sledge, Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett.

So I've been lucky enough to have grown up in a good enough musical village to have a good hold on what it is that I want to do.

Yeah, yeah, no question. And a lot of diversity in that mix, too.

Absolutely.

You mentioned the drums and you mentioned the piano. You also started learning the harmonica at age five, and then at the age of seven, you took on the guitar.

Now, clearly you weren't messing around, but I would love to hear the story about that first guitar.

Oh. So like I said, like you said, started playing harmonica at age 5. My mother asked me what did I want for Christmas the year I turned 7.

And I was like, I, you know, I had seen all these videos, all these different guitar players. I had seen Chuck Berry and B.B. King and stuff like that. And I was like, I want a guitar.

And my mom was like, no, I'm not going to get it for you, because you're just going to pick it up for a couple of weeks and then you're going to put it in the corner. It's going to collect dust and, you know, and I don't want to waste my money. Excuse me.

And so my grandmother asked what I wanted for my for Christmas, and my mom was like, well, he wants a guitar, but I'm not going to buy it for him.

And.

Do you still have that old guitar?

It's at my grandma's house now.

You still got. How cool is that, huh? That's cool, man.

And I'll bet every time she looks at that guitar, she probably thinks to herself, if I wouldn't have done it, where would he have gone? Where would he be doing?

I always say it's one of the best investments she's ever made. She's. She's spent a lot of money. She spent a lot of money on me and my cousin. But that.

That right there is one of the best investments she's ever made on us.

Man. What a great story. What a great story. You got to tell me about the first paying gig that you had with that guitar, too.

Well, the first paying gig I had wasn't that guitar. It was my first electric guitar. And to all the guitar players that are watching, my first guitar was an Ibanez acoustic.

And it was bigger than I was at the time, so I used to have to play it sideways, you know, to try and get it right. And then my first electric was a red Squire Strat. I saw it at the local music store.

And the reason I wanted it so bad was because it looked like Muddy Waters guitar.

Okay?

So I said. So I said, I want. I want to. I want to get that. It was, you know, same color and all that stuff. And I was about. Let me see.

I had to be 10 years old, if I'm not mistaken. And we. We used to do this thing in Augusta. Every first Friday of the month. We would go downtown. We have a thing. It was.

It was called First Fridays, okay? So we would go downtown and there will be all of these artists, you know, these local artists and stuff like that, and all these vendors and stuff.

Somebody be playing on the main stage in the commons And. But people would busk. And so I went down with one of my great aunts. I think it was a relative of one of her customers because she.

She sells health insurance. And he also played guitar. And so he was an older guy. And we went down and set up shot on the side of the street.

And I was playing everything I knew, you know, anything from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Louis Jordan and Chuck Berry and all that stuff. Picking the guitar behind my head and all that stuff, and just doing what I could to make a little money.

And I wasn't expecting people to throw money in. In the case. I just had the case open just because. And so. But I ended up making a hundred dollars in two hours.

And that was the most money I'd ever seen, man.

Man. One of those things. That's one of those things right there that just gets you set on the path and. And you're going to keep doing it.

Absolutely, absolutely. After that, I say, I said, this is. This. This is fun. This.

And of course, I was nervous at first because it was my first time, you know, doing it in public.

Oh, yeah.

But I said. I said, yeah. Yeah. I could see myself doing this for a while. This works. This works really well.

Now, Sean, I have to tell you, I was really impressed to learn that you graduated from high school at the age of 16, and then you immediately took the college route, attending Middle Tennessee State, where you studied audio production and a minor in music industry. So clearly you knew what you were going for. There didn't seem to be any question about the direction that you were heading, is there?

No. My folks put a huge emphasis on education ever since I was a kid, so that always was something important to me.

And I skipped second grade, so that's how I was able to graduate at 16. And it's so funny because it's.

Now it's such a talking point within certain interviews, and they're like, oh, you know, we don't really know blues musicians, you know, that go to college and stuff. And it's like, no. A good bit of my colleagues have their college degrees, so it's something that's important to all of us.

But, yeah, that's exactly what I did. I made my way up to Tennessee. I've got family that lives up here, so that was a big part of me being able to come up and. And it wasn't.

It wasn't too far from my hometown, but it wasn't. It's not close either. So I got my space. If I need to get back home, I can get back home. And so. But I.

Like I said, my folks made sure that I was getting that together before anything. And I made sure of that myself as well.

And don't get me wrong, there were points where I said, well, maybe I could just drop out of college and, you know, just go ahead and hit the road. And. And then I thought about it and I was like. I had a conversation with my mom about.

Congratulations.

My family. I'm one of the first people in my family to go all the way through and not go back to college, to have to do it, do it over again.

So good for you, man. That's. That's cool. That's a. That's a big. A big thing to brag about, for sure.

Sean, in a recent interview, you talked about pulling a lot of inspiration from a lot of different blues influences. I'm sure you get this question all the time, man, but I have to ask you, you really have a thing for the old school blues.

I mean, you mentioned earlier between the 40s and the 60s, primarily. To what do you credit your passion for this music? Because most guys your age are more drawn to the newer stuff, aren't they?

Well, honestly, the thing is, Jim, I think there's such a beauty in obscurity. I think that there is a treasure trove of music that hasn't been tapped into. Certain cats will tap into it.

You've got guys like Junior Watson and who's a huge influence on me. If, you know, if you hear the way I play, folks can. Folks thought I was.

Somebody asked if I was related to him or something like that, because I was playing the song. I was playing one of his songs, just like. But there's so much. There's so much music that people don't touch on because people don't know about it.

And so I think that it's my duty as a blues musician and as a young black musician in general to spotlight some of these artists that don't get as much shine as, say, a Muddy Waters or Howlin Wolf. Excuse me. Because they were putting out music that was just as good, if not better.

And I know that might sound sacrilegious to some people who were die Hard Muddy Waters and Alan Wolf fans.

But if you listen to some of the cats that were on the west coast and in Texas and in New York and in St. Louis and in all these other places other than Chicago, you hear that they're playing some very sophisticated things. And then you hear guys that are playing some of the most low down stuff that you've ever heard in your life.

Like Pete Guitar Lewis is one of my biggest influences. And hearing him for the first time, I was like, okay, I like what he's doing. Let me, let me see what else he's got.

And then I heard more of him and just the rawness of what he's doing. But it was just this mix of being low down and being uptown at the same time. And so I try and incorporate that in what I do. I try and be as.

Because that's the kind of person I am. I'm a sophisticated person, but I'm down home in country too, you know, so.

Right on.

So that's what I try to incorporate in the music. And he's a perfect him. Guys like him and Tiny Grimes and Bill Jennings and all those cats are perfect examples of that. And they are.

But it's a shame that they don't get as much shine as everybody else. We all know about Howlin Wolf, we all know about Mushroom Waters, we know about John Lee Hooker, we know about Little Walter. That's great.

That is wonderful. We know about Robert Johnson, we know about all these guys. And it's usually the same kind of pathway.

It's always Mississippi and Chicago or it's Texas, you know.

But there are so many guys that came that were in that even, even within Chicago and Texas and Mississippi that were playing all this wonderful music that doesn't get as much recognition as it should. So I feel that, me personally, I love spotlighting that kind of music and my music reflects that kind of music as well.

One of the things that I have been very proud to be a part of for much of the last five years, because I've always been kind of drawn to the blues. I've always been a fan of the blues. But again, going back, you know, B.B. King, buddy guy, Buddy Waters, the usual, the usual cast of characters.

I mean, that's, that's what my mom turned me on to.

And then, you know, as I got a little bit older, she discovered Kenny Wayne Shepard and then she discovered Johnny Lang and you know, and before you know it, I mean, we lost my mom a few years ago, God rest her. I. I wish she could be here to see what I'm doing now because I think she'd just be within herself, man. Just blowing.

Absolutely.

Just having a time. Because I have been. I call it rabbit holing. Somebody will turn me on to somebody. And I just picked up a.

A 51 or 52 CD set called the ABC of the Blues. And it's all these old guys and it's a lot of the people that you've just mentioned, you know, since we've been talking.

And so I'm really enjoying that. That discovery. It's.

It's like, yeah, I listen to the stuff that I listen to on a regular basis, which, I mean, I have a pretty diverse taste in blues. And I do like a little blues with my rock and, you know, stuff like that. It's, you know.

But I have become a real aficionado of the older school stuff and.

Right.

It's. It's thanks to the people who have turned me on to them and they'll give me a name like Solomon Burke.

And next thing you know, down the rabbit hole I go, and I'm learning all about Solomon Burke.

Exactly. The. The. The beauty of it, not to cut you off, but the beauty.

No, no, you're good.

The beauty of the Internet is that because I grew up in an Internet area in era. Excuse me, I grew up in the Internet era. And so with that in mind, I was able to see a clip of somebody and.

Or they'll be like, somebody related in the related videos. And I'm like, okay, well, who is this person? Who is that person? Like, the way I found out about T Bone Walker was through.

There was this guy who did an 80th birthday tribute to Chuck Berry. And towards the end of the video, he says, any T Bone Walker solo can fit a Chuck Berry song. He's the.

Before he talks about T Bone, he's talking about, you know, all Chuck's hits. He's, johnny, be good, let it rock. Reeling and rock, you know, Nadine, all that stuff. And so.

He's got his ES5 and everything. And he's playing Stormy Monday.

And, you know, I didn't even see the full clip of everything until like a few years ago maybe, but I saw that clip and all you hear is. They call his storm. And he's just cool and relaxed, and he's playing these, and it's. It's like, where did this even come from?

You know, like, you know, like my mind was blown. And that's how I feel. Like anytime I find somebody that I'm. I. I genuinely get interested in. So, you know, that's how I felt about B.B. King.

That's how I felt about, you know, all these cats. There's got to be something that make. That makes me say that, because if not, then I'll just, you know, bypass it.

And there are a lot of things that I bypass. Like I tell my friends all the time, it's like, you know, if I hear somebody that can really sing, and I'm like, they can sing.

And, you know, I don't say that about everybody. And they're like, yeah, you don't. So, but I mean, that's, That's. That's how I found out about a lot of cats was. Was through the Internet.

And you, you know, you do research and you, like, you said rabbit hole, you know, so you. You find out about one person, they're connected to this person because of, you know, a session or they influenced them or something like that.

You're like, okay, well, who is this person? And then you find out more about that person, and they walk.

They worked with this person, and they were, you know, in cahoots with this person and blah, blah, blah, blah. You get a good understanding of who all these people were and. And the kind of music that they were making and.

And what that contributed to the culture and into the music itself. Indeed.

And I'm going to commit the cardinal sin here because I'm going to mention another podcaster's name, but there's a gentleman down in Queensland, Australia, if you get a chance to listen to him, I'll send you a link. His name is Sean Bindley, and he has a program called Blues With a Feeling. And I never really cussed him out, but I'm like, sean, come on, man.

Every time I listen to your show, next thing you know, I'm having to order albums because you're introducing me to somebody new. And he just laughs and he says, well, I guess I'm doing my job, mate.

That's exactly what it is. I think that, you know, in any aspect, as lovers of the music, as, you know, as we all are, that's our job. It's like, we can. We. We can listen to.

I love Muddy Waters. I love how I love all of the main. The. The main cats that we talk about. All the time.

I love all those guys, but if there is a way that we can introduce other people to these folks that aren't getting the recognition that they deserve, and some of them are still living, you know, and that's another thing. So. Or, you know, there are people that are living that were connected to these people. Like, I had a chance to sit with.

To do a show with Diana Greenleaf when we were over in Switzerland with Kit Anderson. And so.

And she's telling me stories about growing up in Houston where, you know, Lightning Hopkins was on the street corner playing and, you know, he knows her family and stuff like that. She was good friends with Clarence Holloman and IJ Goce and Roy Gaines and Carol Frank.

And these are some of my favorite musicians, you know, so I'm able to sit and connect because. And I tell folks all the time, they're like, well, who are your favorite artists? I'm like, my favorite artists are no longer with us.

So to be able to sit and sit at the feet of these masters and these people that knew these masters, it's an honor and a pleasure, and I'm just glad to be another chapter in the book. So.

And how cool is that? And. And serendipity has played a lot of a. A big role in your journey, if you will. You mentioned Kit Anderson just a few moments ago.

Talk about how you met him because it, I mean, ultimately that's going to lead us to the album. We're not going to get into the album yet, but I would love to hear how you met Kidd.

So I came across Kid, once again, the power of the Internet. I came across Kidd for the first time. Excuse me.

I can't remember how long ago it was, but the first video I saw of him was Hubert some one Tone Secrets, and he's playing as Les Paul and he's showing you how to sound like Hubert Sumlin Tone wise, not how to play like him, but just, just, just the, just the overall tone of them. And then I started and I was like, this white guy can show up playing some blues, you know, and so. And I thought he was from here.

I didn't even know he was Norwegian. So that made it, you know, even better. I was like, is the Norwegian cat and he's playing like this.

And so I ended up getting on Facebook and found them and we became friends on Facebook. And some people know this story, some people don't.

So the main three guitars that people see me play, my gold top, my strat and my ES5, they all came from kid through Facebook. I put a post up about four years ago, four years ago now, saying as a joke. There was a joke. And I had posted something like this before.

I posted stuff like this a couple of times. But I said, if anybody wants to know what I want for my birthday or for Christmas this year, I want a gold top les Paul with P90s.

I want a blonde Strat like the ones with like the Mary Kay strats from the 50s. And I want a blonde ES5, like T bone Walker. And all these folks were in the comments and they were joking. I'll get you to Whammy Bar.

I'll get you the tuners. I'll get, you know, stuff like that. Kid says, mind you, the, the. The two guitar. The, the. The Stratton ES5, they're blondes.

So he says, can you settle for non blondes? And I was like, I'm not going to turn down guitars because they ain't the same color, you know, because they're not the color I really want.

Guitar is a guitar. And so he sent me pictures of his ES5, his 62 reissue Strat, and his 50s reissue Gold Topless Paul. And he said, I'll send them to you for free.

And I was like, okay. And he says, and I'm telling my folks. I'm like, I'm like, ma, you ain't got to worry about buying me now another guitar. Like, I don't after this.

I'm good, you know. And so he was like, I don't want anything from you. I just want you to come to the studio and work with me at some point.

Oh, my God.

And. And he said that me.

And he said, me and Rick are so happy to see what you're doing that we're, you know, whatever we can do to help your dream come true, we'll do it. And so there was that. And he sent them and I got them and I was. I spent like a whole day.

He shipped them to you?

He shipped them to me. I was still in college. So he shipped it to the college. We had a. We have a post office on campus. He shipped them to the, to the post office.

I made myself late for work when the Gibsons came in because I was, you know, getting them and getting them to the. Back to the dorm and everything. I spent a little time playing. I was like, oh, my gosh. I got this guitar, so it was really cool.

And then after a while, I ended up finally meeting him the year after on the blues cruise, my first blues cruise. And of course, you know, kid is tall as all get out. So he was the.

You know, he stuck out like a sore thumb because he was where he was tallest joker and he was wearing a green tracksuit and he's just towering over everybody on the boat, you know. So introduced myself, I actually met Rick Estrin and, you know, the rest of the band on that cruise.

Nice.

So. So I was just glad to make their acquaintance, you know.

And then a few years later, he asked me if I wanted to do a gig with him in Switzerland, which led us to doing the the Groove Now Blues Week over in Switzerland. And so it was me, Diana Greenleaf, Tia Carroll, Alabama Mike.

Nice. So you got more time with Diana too?

Exactly. Well, that was. That was where I actually sat and talked with her and stuff.

Oh, gotcha, Gotcha. All right.

Yeah. So. So. But it was all of us. And then we did. Our last show was a tribute to Johnny Guitar Watson. And so we had a ball with that and. And funnily.

And I was like, I'm down. Let's do it.

All right, I'm going to cut you off right there. I got to cut you off right there.

Okay.

I want to talk about this album, man, and. And you've really set it up nicely.

Your debut album, have Mercy, certainly has caught my attention and from what I am hearing, the attention of a large number of folks. So put that together for me. How did that phone call. Did. Did kid introduce you to Jim originally or how did that come to be?

I honestly can't remember. And maybe we might have met before, but if I remember correctly, I met him at the BMAs, or it might have been something else, but like I said, we.

We got to be. Got to know each other and exchange phone numbers and. Excuse me.

And he, like I said, just called me up out of the blue and was like, we want you to come and do, you know. You know, we want you to come and do the record. And I was like, great. He's like, come out to Greece land and do the record. Sounds like, okay, cool.

And this was. Of course, this was a few years after DK had did. He is sure. And a whole bunch of other people that did their records over there.

And like I said, I've been watching Kid for a while, so I was already familiar with the studio, but I had never been over there. And so we got to Switzerland, and he was like. He was like, hey, we've got a record to do. And I was like, okay, great. Let's.

That sounds like him, too.

So I've been.

I know for sure I didn't write Killing Me until we got to Switzerland because I literally couldn't sleep. And so that was the first. That's why. That's the first line of that song.

Oh, man. Wow.

And so. And the thing is, Jim was like, well, you know, we have these great musicians and.

And, you know, Quantity Johnson, who's the bass player, and he plays for the Sons of the Soul Revivers. Who else? There was supposed to be another drummer, but he couldn't do it. So June Corey ended up playing drums on there. Okay. And then we had already.

They.

Kid had gotten the horn section together, and he was like, I think I want to get the Sons of the Soul Revivers and Marcel Smith to do background vocals. And so, because he wanted a kind of a quartet feel on the record, I told him I didn't want it to be a straight quartet record.

I wanted to be a blues record, but I wanted to have that kind of feeling into it. If it goes there, then that's where it goes. So that's why we included Don't Let the Devil Ride, because it encapsulated that.

But it's also a song that my great, great grandfather used to sing at his church all the time. So I had to put that on there as a tribute. But it just. It just worked out perfectly. It was. It was. It was the perfect storm. It. I mean.

And I told Jim, I said, I want you to play piano on it. And he was like, I don't like to get mixed up. And I was like, no, you're gonna play piano on my record whether you did it or not.

You know, he was like. He was like, you're a good enough piano player. I was like, no, I want you to play piano on my record.

Because if I mess up on piano, I'm gonna have to live with that. You're going to play piano on my record. And he didn't.

Yeah, but how. But how cool that. Because Jim is an incredible musician in his own right. Kid is an incredible musician in his own right.

You know, clearly you guys had a really good creative process in putting this album together. And.

And hats off to you, because you definitely brought an album out that has that quartet feel, that has that gospel flavor to it, but you still got the. The Old School blues in there. And let me tell you how I describe it to people, okay? I describe your album simply as this. And this is from my.

Yeah.

I mean, seriously, that's what I heard. It was that old school. And everybody I talked to, I would. I would say, listen to this and tell me. And I'd play that, you know, I'd play that my soul.

And they're like, yeah, that's Old School Blues. That's really good stuff. You know, it's something that, like, you'd hear at Sun Studios.

Yeah. So with that number, it was. I knew it as a Rudy Ray Moore song. And those that know Rudy Ray Moore, he became famous as Dolomite and all that stuff.

And so. But it was written by him. He's singing lead vocals on it. And then the backing group is called the Seniors or something like that. Okay.

And so when we recorded it, we were just, you know, it was. It was a part. It was a party, you know, like, me. Me and the.

Me and the Sons were sitting there and we were just talking about old quartet music and just having a good time. We played it over and over again and got the vocals together, and, you know, it was. It was just a. It was just a great time. And that's how the.

The sessions were in general. You know, it wasn't like we were working. And I think. I think that.

And that really. That really comes through, Sean. It does, genuinely.

Yeah. And I think that's the beautiful part about it, is because we want. I wanted to.

Like I said, I wanted to make sure that the essence of me came across on the first record. And so. And not to say that it's not going to come across on any other record.

But I wanted it to, to translate well and I think we really achieved that because you can hear, you can hear the gospel, you can hear the blues, you can hear New Orleans in it. You can hear. One of my biggest influences is Ray Charles. You can hear Ray Charles in it, you know, so it's, it's, it's, it's a.

And you can hear my family. I hear my family in it. I hear, you know, it's, it's like, it's everything that's gotten me to this point. In a matter of nine songs, as.

Earl Thomas would say, the voices of the ancestors come through.

Exactly. That's exactly what I got.

Goosebumps, dude, I'm serious. This is.

And I had to have a talk with the ancestors before we recorded anything. I said, you know, let your light shine through. Let your legacy be heard on this record. You know, be in my hands, be in my voice.

Whatever, whatever words are said on this record, let, let, you know, let you shine through on this. And I think they did that pretty well.

How beautiful. Yeah, man. So I, I don't know what to say. I am, I'm very rarely left speechless, but you've left me speechless and because I, I get it, I get it.

I feel. Comes through 120%. It really does. So the album's been out for a little bit. How's it been received? What are you hearing?

Are you, are you having a good time performing the music, Sean?

I do. It's so funny because a majority of the stuff that I do off the record are the originals. So we did.

So the week, the day that it came out actually I was in Eureka, California. Okay. With.

With Jim doing the Redwood Coast Music Festival and he was like, we just put it out like, just like that, you know, like it was like, like it was nothing like he was saying good morning, you know, and I was like, oh, okay. And, and so we were doing, like I said, there were certain songs that I was already doing on the road and they were being well received.

And you know, since we put it all together, everybody's just been digging it, man.

And it makes me happy because like I said, at heart I still remember being that little seven year old boy in my mama's apartment trying to learn how to play. And so for everybody that's listening to this record to be, well, receiving this record makes that little seven year old boy very happy.

And, and, and I mean I just think about, and even, even now when my Music is on shuffle and the song will come up. I'm like, that's me. That's me right there, you know, and so, and I mean, one time I was listening to recordings that.

The recordings that we did in, in Switzerland, and I was crying. I was like, this is me. Like, this is. This is.

I've gotten to this point, you know, and so it just makes me emotional to think and, and to know that everybody is. Is really digging the record. The reviews have been great. One of the best reviews, God bless him, God rest his soul, was this guy.

I can't remember his name, but he was a DJ in Birmingham. And he said, I gotta find it. He said some of the, the. The prettiest stuff about the record. Like, I, I haven't.

You know, usually folks, folks will say certain things like, oh, well, it reminds me of this and, you know, this. Whatever, whatever. My man really put some words together on this, on this thing. He says, see where it is? So, for instance, on.

On shuffleboard swing, he says, want to hear a band having fun?

Shuffleboard swing is jitterbug joy as Sean lays down the T Bone Walker copyrights that his followers expounded on, leading into Jim Pugh's deafness with what Hammonds were like before Jimmy Smith. McDonald's attack is so firm that I suspect he plays Pat Martino on his days off.

Q. Johnson is possibly wearing the same Fender bass on all these tracks, yet when he reaches into his left pocket for string basism, his mastery is impeccable.

The entire track cooks up a magical audio texture like a confection containing nougat ground hazelnuts and espresso coffee beans in its grape rich chocolate.

Oh, man.

I never heard nobody say wow. I mean, the man had a way with words. God. God bless his soul. His name is.

He died recently.

Dave Gallagher. Okay. Passed recently. Yeah, man.

Oh, yeah, I know. Okay. Microwave Dave. Yeah. Wow. What a great review.

Yeah, man.

I mean, that's something you can lean on for years to come, for ages, you know. So I would quote that every single time you get an opportunity.

Absolutely. And that's just one track off the record. So for, for people to, to say great things about that, you know, it makes me happy. I got a phone call from.

From Kev Mo. And. And he was like. He called. He called me yesterday because I gave him a copy of the cd. And he says, he says, you know what you're doing?

And I was like, no. He was like, yes, you do. And I was like, what are you talking about? And he Says he was like, man, you, it's, it's a stewardship of the music.

Like you, you know, you're, you're reaching back and you're, you're taking all this influence.

Yeah, buddy.

Bringing it up to date, you know, and, and it just made me happy to know that he thinks that, you know, Taj Mahal digs it. These are all, you know, and this, this is crazy because these are all now friends of mine. These are people that I've looked up to for years.

And so I'm glad to call them my colleagues and my co workers and my friends and stuff. So. But yeah, the record's been doing good.

I hope I don't mess this up too much. Do you know the term griot? You know what griot is?

Yes. Okay. I'm very familiar.

I'm going to send you a link to the second interview that I did with Earl. Okay. Because he talks about communicating with the ancestors and the voices of the ancestors in himself being a griot.

I understand that Taj Mahal is a griot and Keb Mo is one of his disciples. And so to hear, to hear him say those things to you, I mean. All right, set the professionalism aside for a minute. Bring that seven year old out.

What does that mean to you to hear words like that from somebody you've looked up to for so long?

Sean, listen, if I could holler if I got.

I mean, as my mother would say, it makes my heart go pretty pat because it just, it really warms my heart to know that these are the things that people that I look up to. These, these are the kind of things that I think of these folks and they think that of me. You know, it started with Taj because.

And the way I got connected with Taj was through Jontavious Willis. Jontavius Willis is a very.

You guys are birds of a feather, man. I'm looking out for you.

Absolutely, absolutely. He's a brother of mine. And so there was a video put out of me, put out about me. I was 15 years old and I was at the local music store in my hometown.

And luckily enough, once again, you know, like you said, serendipity. Luckily enough.

The guy that was this running the store, my good friend Mike Bay to me, he's known me since I was around seven, since I, you know, when I started playing. And he got a video of me playing Dust My Broom at that music store Resonator. And I'm playing it and I'm singing it.

And like I said, I was only 15 at the time. And so it got around. And it got around pretty quick. So like, the next week, it had 20,000 views on it on Facebook or something like that.

And so all these folks, Paul Osher commented on it, Gary Portnoy commented on it. And so all these folks from all around the blues community were commenting on it. And.

And you know, I didn't know a lot of these people because, you know, I was new on Facebook and I didn't know that there was this whole blues community on Facebook. And so John Tabius found me through that video. We became friends. We did a show in lagrange, Georgia together. It was my first out of town gig.

Honestly. I was getting ready to turn 16. I was almost 16. And. And then I turned 16 the next year.

I was living with an uncle, my uncle Rick, the one I was telling you about earlier. And I get a phone call from John Tavius, which was very rare at that point in time because he, you know, was rarely calling just out the blue.

And so he was like, hey, man, got a question for you. And I was like, okay, what's up? He says, you mind if I send you a video to Taj Mahal? I was like, yeah, go ahead. And so he says.

He says, okay, how you spell your name? Told him how to spell my name. And so, okay, give me. Give me a couple minutes. And I was like, okay, cool. A couple minutes go by.

I got a phone call from California.

Oh, man.

I almost don't answer the phone call because I'm thinking it's a scam caller.

Oh, yeah.

But something says, you better pick up this phone. And I'm like, okay. So I pick up the phone. I'm like, hello? He says, hey, is this brother Sean McDonald? And I was like, yeah, who is this?

This is Taj Mahal. And I was like, oh, my goodness,.

There's the goosebumps again.

See? Wow. Wow.

Holy cats, dude.

We were on the phone. We had to. Been on the phone for about 30 minutes, got to know each other, and I was getting ready to graduate high school. So I was.

We've been nice, you know, staying in touch with each other. And, you know, but I'm. I mean, like I said, it was. It was serendipitous, you know what I'm saying? Same thing with Kim Wilson.

A friend of his was like. He was like, have you Ever met my brother? This guy down in Houston, Aubrey Holland? Did you ever met my brother? And I was like, no, I haven't met him.

He. I sent the message, and he's like, man, I'm getting ready to check you out right now. I was like, okay. He checked out my video.

He said, man, you sound great. I love the stuff that you're doing. It was like the most recent live video I did on Facebook. Like, man, you sound great. You know, this.

This is amazing.

Blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's my phone number. Get in touch with me sometime. And I'm like.

And I tell my friends about it, and my friends are like, dude, like, Kim never compliments anyone. And, you know, even better than that, he never gives his phone number out. Same thing with Junior Watson.

You know, somebody told me who he was on Facebook, and I got in touch with him, and I'd been listening to him for a while. He was the reason I started. I'm wanting to play a gold top and stuff. So he was one of the folks that really changed the way that I play guitar.

So to be able to be in touch with him, he was. He was like, you know, I've been. I've been checking you out for a minute, and I really dig what you're doing.

So that, like I said, it makes my heart flutter to know that that's. And it makes me feel all warm inside to know that these are what the cats are thinking.

Well, Sean, your new album, have Mercy, is cooking. It's doing good. What's your plans for the next 12 to 18 months? You got any touring around the United States?

Plan anything across the pond, so to speak? What's. What's in the future for you? What are you doing?

Well, I am heading to Europe. Doing some stuff in Europe in this month. I am. And what else is going on? Oh, I have to go to the BMAs.

Of course. Yeah.

To go to the BMAs, because the album is nominated for Best Emerging Artist Album Award. So I. I'm very, very, very excited about that.

And I'm not saying this to try to score brownie points or anything, but that was the easiest category for me to vote on, period. All right. And, yeah, you got my vote, man.

And if you don't win it, I'm going to be bummed because I don't Think there's anybody that deserves it more, that album? And again, you know, I'm not fanboy here. I'm. I'm being real with you.

That album spoke to me from the first time that I heard it, so I wish you all the luck on that. You bet.

All I'll say is this. If I win, woohoo. If I don't win, we still gonna go out and celebrate.

Are we gonna find some kind of champagne, go down the beer street and have some barbecue?

Hey, the fact that your first album is being brought out for a nomination, I mean, come on. That alone is. Is worthy of celebration. Definitely.

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaking of Memphis, since we're talking about Memphis, what's it like to tour with John Namath? I mean, we got to see you a little earlier this year. I know this is not the first time that you've been out touring with him. What's that cat like?

Man?

He is something. He is something. I first met John the first day I met Kim Wilson, actually. We were in Nashville.

And I was like, okay, you know, I want to support. Support. He's like, well, bring your ex. And I was like, cool, great, I will.

And so into that note, support live musicians, go get your tickets, come and see us, because, you know, it's very important. All right. But the. But I met John then, and I knew he could sing, but hearing him there, and I was like, wow, this is something. This is something.

And so then I was actually on tour, and I was doing my first solo tour, my first international tour. I was out in Uruguay, in Brazil, and did two weeks out there. And John Hay, his guitar player, called me and was asking me to fill in for him.

Excuse me. For a little run that they were doing in the dmv. And so I got out there to Memphis because we were already going to be at the BMAS for the.

Because the album I Played on was also nominated for Best Emerging Artist Album award, which was who Is he by? Dylan Triplett.

Okay.

And so we were out there and did a rehearsal with John, going over the songs and stuff, and some of the stuff I was, you know, still learning and messing up on and kind of coming up with my own parts on. But, you know, I got it worked out and was on the road on and off the road with him for a year.

Wow.

And. And it was. It was. It was fun. I got to go places I'd never been before and, you know, meet nice people. And just getting to know John was.

Was great because he's such. He's a sweet person with a sweet family. You know, I've stayed at his house a couple times when I'm in Memphis, and sometimes that was because I was.

I was playing with him or I was, you know, going to the IBCs or whatever. But he's a very sweet person and he can. Like. Like I said earlier, I don't say this about everybody. I'm very critical when it comes to music.

Joker can sing. Like, I mean, he's got a voice on him. And it just. And then when we would do.

When we would do tours, it would be like, every night I just be like, wow, man. Like, this. This is. This is what you do. This is what you do. And I'm just. I'm just glad I get to be a part of it.

And so I was grateful that he allowed me to. This time in March. He allowed me to do some of the stuff on my own record and. And. And, you know, so that was great.

So I'm grateful because I know a lot of people wouldn't let that fly, you know, so it's like, you're playing in my band, you playing in my band, you playing my music, and that's that, you know, so. But John's a great person.

That's a man right there that's very, very comfortable in his own skin.

Absolutely.

And he's not afraid to share, and I think that's so cool.

Absolutely.

Sean, where can we send people to learn more about you to get your hot new album, have mercy. Or to book you for a gig, man?

You can message me directly on Facebook. You can find me at Sean McDonald on Facebook. You can find me on instagram @Mac McDonald. Official.

That's M A C K M C C D O N A L D Official on Instagram.

If you want me in Europe, go to trunkbookings.com Talk to Thomas Toussaint and Fabrice Best White, two of the baddest booking agents over on that side of the pond. So they do great work, and they've been getting me over there for the last two years. So I've. I've just been enjoying myself out there, but that's.

That's where y' all can find me.

Something tells me you're going to get a lot busier, my friend. A lot busier. I believe it. I just.

It's already happening. I gotta. I gotta get myself. I gotta get myself a personal assistant now so I can keep myself together. So.

Sean McDonald, I want to thank you for taking time to talk to us today on Time Signatures. Now that you've been on here, anytime you have a new album to promote or a tour to talk about, contact me.

We've got a microphone here for you anytime.

Okay, thanks so much, Jim. I appreciate the opportunity.

And that wraps up this edition of Time Signatures. Once again, my thanks to Sean McDonald, but more than that, and equally to that, also to you, because without you, none of this would be possible.

Jim Ervin reminding you keeping the blues alive is everybody's responsibility. But preserving the history of the blues, one story at a time, that's my mission. Until next time. So long, everybody.

This has been Time Signatures with Jim Ervin, presented by the Capital Area Blues Society in Lansing, Michigan. For more information on CABS, visit CapitalAreaBlues.org. You can find this episode and past episodes at LCCconnect.org. The Time Signature's theme song, Michigan Roads, is used by permission and was written by Root Doctor featuring Freddie Cunningham. Until next time, keep on keeping the blues alive.