Join me in wishing Dead Messengers lead guitarist Steve McDonald a happy birthday today. He’s the only musician besides me to appear on all six of my albums, (he’s on 41 tracks, total), and so to mark his birthday, I’ve created a Spotify playlist of my personal favorite guitar performances. Let’s call it Steve McDonald: Guitar Hero. The link to the Spotify list is HERE, but here’s a brief rundown. (I don’t know about you, but when I listen to these songs, I’m usually listening to guitar.)
“Incurable Blues” – Welcome to the Danger Show (2007)
I saw Steve’s band Vermouth play a gig at Bordello sometime in early 2006. Then later when brainstorming re: all the weirdos I wanted to bring in to play on my first solo record, I recruited Steve through Giulio. I officially met him the day he turned up to record “We” and this song, and we had a good enough time that he joined the band and has played on every record since. Unlike most of the recordings below, his “Incurable Blues” track is 3 or 4 different passes through the song which I then edited together myself. Steve then learned the comped version like a champ and has played that live since 2007.
“Waltz Beneath a Balcony” – Beneath a Balcony (2009)
Whenever I get around to teaching myself some of Steve’s electric guitar parts, this will be first on my list. It’s pretty much pentatonic noodling, but done to the extreme, and I love the hell out of it. At a certain point in 2009, Giulio was moving to NYC and I debated whether the “Waltz” would be worth performing without his big B3 organ in the band. But the next time I played it with the remaining members, I realized it’s this guitar part that makes the song. So long as it’s there, it’s a banger live.
“Baby, I’m Okay” – Beneath a Balcony (2009) and “Baby I’m OK” – Anthems (2012)
There are actually three versions of this song, and my favorite might be the one Steve didn’t play on, the Kill the Messenger version from Sound of Music. Having said that, these two guitar solos, on Balcony and Anthems respectively, are a great look at his range. The country Balcony version has him showing off his slide skills, and the Anthems version has one of my favorite guitar solos in the whole catalog. It’s not flashy, but the tone is beautiful and it’s perfect.
“Safe” – Anthems (2012)
This was nearly a throwaway song until – a solid two years after it was first written – we decided to slap the lengthy guitar-solo coda on it. I think it’s one of several of Steve’s solos that reveal his punk roots – it sort of refuses to be too pretty, but still snarls. I’m still so-so on the song itself, but between the guitar solo, the backing vocals, and Frogs’ bass-line, I love everything from 3:43 to the end.
“You’ll Never Work in This Town Again” – Albatross (2014)
Steve still hasn’t forgiven me for the final mix of this song, which he always thought reined in his multiple guitar tracks too much in favor of other elements. I understand what he means; I would like to also have a version where they dominate, but I still think he shines the way this came out. The key is to play it really, really loud, especially in headphones. I love how he starts playing his own counter-melody underneath my singing in the third and fourth verses, starting around 1:35.
“Fake Constellations” – Nothing is Fantastic (2017)
My fifth album, is, more than any other – the Steve showcase record. Despite our different musical upbringings, he took over my 90’s guitar rock record and is the absolute star of thing, playing at least a little on every single song. “Fake Constellations” shows his ability to create spooky surf textures and drive the tune with a killer rhythm-lead hook in the verses, only to then pull out another great hook in the choruses. If you never have before, this – more than any other song – is one you should listen to while focusing entirely on the electric guitars.
“The Trouble with Sinking” – Nothing is Fantastic (2017)
Most of what you hear in this song is Frogs and I, but Steve’s outro guitar-solo is face-melting in the best way. With Nothing is Fantastic I set out to make the record my 16 year-old self would have made in 1995, had I only the talent and experience and resources. The passage from about 4:07-4:32 is the moment on the record I know my teenage self would have been jumping around his room, punching walls in excitement.
“The House in the Canyon” – Nothing is Fantastic (2017)
Another testament to his versatility, the very next song on the record has some of the most hauntingly beautiful lead guitar Steve has ever played on one of my records. He claimed he was channeling some Mott the Hoople elements in the main intro/verse lick, but I think his love for Irish music is what’s seeping through in the choruses. Everything from when I stop singing (around 4:30) out just kills me.
“Apples Off the Trees” – Nothing is Fantastic (2017)
There are other great Steve moments from my fifth record I could include – I adore the rhythm-lead on the choruses of “Shimmering Mirage” and the drastically contrasting solos on “A Story Worth Repeating” and “Merry Xmas, 2009” but I think the glassy leads on this song are so melodic and beautiful, particularly the one that enters around the three-minute mark.
“Goldbricker” – Dead Messengers (2020)
The second guitar solo is pure evil – pure, audacious, unadulterated, don’t-give-a-fuck evil.
“St. Anthony Blues” – Dead Messengers (2020)
This is a good bookend to “Incurable Blues” as they’re siblings. If the former is what happened when Steve recorded cold for a guy he’d never met, the “St. Anthony” lead guitar is what happened when he had a chance to meticulously work out his part for a guy he’d played with for 12+ years. You have to listen close because there’s so much going on, but if you do, you’ll get your mind blown. The whole thing is great, but especially pay attention just after the two-minute mark. (Again: headphones, loud. His lead guitar is panned hard on the right.)
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4uFiKNviRZ5T1qse4xUfVe?si=E4XmjqRaTt-y2nlJyLgHmQ