McCain

Web posted on: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 2:11:43 PM

From Correspondent Mark Scheerer

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Southern rocker Edwin McCain isn't a household name quite everywhere yet, but he has firsthand evidence that his star is rising.

"The guy at my airline was taking my ticket as I was getting on the plane. He saw my name on the (boarding pass), he started singing my song to me," an amazed McCain recounts. "He's singing it to me, and everybody's looking around, going, 'What's going on here?' I was like, 'OK!'"

Listen to a clip of "I'll Be" Audio clip: 200k MPEG-3 Audio clip: 290k WAV File format info Courtesy Atlantic Records

McCain's second CD may be called "Misguided Roses," but his music career is anything but on the wrong track. For the past couple of years, he and his band have already been pleasing music critics from coast to coast. And now he's breaking through to stardom with a little help from a TV show and some famous friends.

The native South Carolinan has seen his single, "I'll Be," turn into a hit thanks to its play on the WB teen drama series "Dawson's Creek."

"It was absolutely fantastic for your career to get that kind of exposure, and we're thankful to have it," he says.

His sophomore release, "Misguided Roses," including its cut "I'll Be," has guided the singer-songwriter in the right direction. It follows his first release, "Honor Among Thieves," which spun off the Top 10 rock hit "Solitude."

Despite public recognition, he works to keep his success in perspective. His philosophy? "At the end of the day, you're a friend to a friend, a brother to your sister, a son to your parents and a member of a community. Other than that, you know, there's not a whole lot else going on," he says.

McCain with Hootie & the Blowfish

His actions bear out his motto: McCain is the co-founder of the America Street Foundation, an organization that raises funds and provides affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families in South Carolina.

"It's great," he says of the foundation, which recently raised $100,000 to revitalize decaying areas of Charleston. "You get together with other musicians and put on concerts and golf tournaments, and it's a lot of fun. And to me, that's the true power of music is watching it as it affects the community."

Some of the other musicians he's referring to include friends from the band Hootie & the Blowfish. Comparisons between the two acts, both flavored with mellow, bluesy rock ballads, are unavoidable.

"I mean, there's similarities in it," says Dean Felber, Hootie's bassist. "I guess, maybe being from the same area and coming through the same scene, but there's definitely two different styles of music, I think."