Press Area Menu  

McNevin's songs read like short stories - sometimes familiar, sometimes strange, with a keen eye for Americana the heart of everyday life. His " Sketch" CD visits themes of both the young and the old. The youngest of four brothers, he grew up in the rail town of Niles, California. He mines his Huck Finn childhood in songs like "Bagger" (about his days working in the town grocery store), "Two Feet Ahead Of The Train" (a close call he had on a train trestle when he was ten years old), and "John's Cocoons" (the spring ritual of his eldest brother hatching a shoe box full of giant Polyphemus Moths all over the house). In "Drought" and "I'll Make Do", he writes about mountain life in a small cabin in the Sierra Nevada (complete with wood stoves, crushes, and bar fights). In the title cut to his first CD, "Secondhand Story", McNevin discovers a discarded letter in a travel bag he picked up at a Goodwill Store, recounting the letter of two brothers keeping in touch after being separated by a broken home. Most of McNevin's stories sprout from daily life, digging into the moments to create a picture for the listener's eyes and ears.

Michael's most recent project is titled "In The Rough", a collection of mostly guitar vocal takes of his newer songs, for fans of more stripped down guitar work and lyrics. "Early Bird" recalls morning visits to a railroad family and their horses. "Giant Lonesome" is about a James Dean Fan Club, set in rural West Texas in the 1950's. "Margaret 1956" also leans back to that era, but with adifferent twist - McNevin's mother as a teenager cutting school in San Fransisco, flying south and standing all day on a street corner in Los Angeles waiting to "be discovered" by the film industry. He has three co-writes on this one as well, which all seem to cover some miles in different parts of the country (though they don't actually mention states or roads). "Silver Hair" (written with Tom Prasada-Rao), is a journey via Kerouac and Don Quiote, in search of a rocking chair and a loved one. " Nowhere to Somewhere" (written with Buddy Mondlock) takes an El Nino storm in the South West and follows a lover's journey across a border, and "Hob Thrasher" (written with McNevin's Dad Jack in the Phoenix Airport) is the endearing true tale of McNevin and an old fiddler, Hob, jamming to The Wabash Cannonball while they wait for a plane.

Another recent endeavor is a project titled "Songs Of The Oregon Trail". Michael wrote and produced this EP for The Learning Company as an artistic perk inside The Oregon Trail learning software box (a worldwide brand owned by Mattel at the time). The music is vintage McNevin - stories of people, full of heart and rich detail. Songs include "Willie" - a gold miner Michael met while camping in the Sierra Nevada, "Critter Stew" - a cut-up on the pioneer diet, and "Harriet" - the true story of an 11 year old girl who walks the Oregon Trail with her family in 1852.