ABOUT
Douglas Eldon McLean - Bio
McLean started playing at the age of 11 years as a drummer and began playing professionally at the age of 15 (1966). At age 17, McLean was touring the circuit with his band battlecreak in Northern Ontario - from Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay and playing many shows in the Sudbury area. Mclean was known as a powerful, barrelhouse voiced singer who often blew his voice out getting to deep into the song.
McLean was playing guitar by 1970 and also appearing as a folk singer in coffer houses etc. McLean was kinda famous for making songs up on the spot about audience members; it was an interesting experiment to see how long he could keep the verses rhyming – sometime these impromptu solo song creations would last 20 minutes or so but that was along ago …
Mclean was deeply influenced by a lot different music forms but stayed focused mainly on singing and rhythm guitar. He studied music theory and jazz guitar for many years in the Sudbury following the Berkley School of Theory and improvisation. While deeply passionate about advance music skills, as self-taught musician, he never made the cut in his own estimation.
McLean continued to perform in blues bands and as a solo artist and play Northern Lights folk festival in 1971 /72 (if memory serves). With the band King Street he recorded a song “Reputation” which was a sort local Sudbury hit. With this band, he also recorded an EP of his own songs which was many years later released on YouTube as Doug McLean 1969.
At age 25, (1976) drawn by an inner quest for “answers” for some quintessential and seemingly daunting questions, he moved with his young family to California to study and also to sell or become a professional songwriter. While in California he met a man by the name of Reshad Feild who changed his life forever.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reshad_Feild
While studying in California, McLean’s brother was badly hurt in a motorcycle accident and he was forced to return to Canada. His attempts to sell songs and find “answers” both left unfulfilled. Back in Canada, he continued to write and perform mostly with blues bands but making ends meet became much more difficult challenge. With 3 children and a wife who really didn’t understand the “ music “ scene; McLean gave up at age 35 - sold off all the gear and moved in to the corporate world essentially disappearing from performing. At age 39 he came into contact with Paul Beidler – an American Zen master – who had studied in Japan and Thailand for many years. Beidler became a guiding principal and light for the rest of his life (or so far).
Around 2011, McLean was invited him to play at a coffee house in the Huntsville area. At that time friends began to suggest that he record some of these tunes. James Carroll at Hunter’s Bay radio took some interest in his new material especially a song called Rawley and Love “Em Today which were written again about his family and more specifically about the death of his father.
McLean recorded Under a Cold Black Moon in 2013. Three songs got some local notice from that album – the cost, Gwendolyne, Rawley.
In 2014, McLean went to British Columbia to record with renowned producer Shannon Lyon and they released After All This Time in 2015. Several songs got broader airplay with this album release – most notable – “Saffire”, “All Around”, “Let Love Become Your Hero” and “After All This Time “.
In February 2016, McLean began recording Land of My Fathers, which was released in April 2017.
Land of My Fathers is an album focused on family, love and trying to find one’s place and purpose. It was recorded entirely in the Kearney area with local musicians most notably Marion Linton and Brandon Munday.
The album is notable for three songs: “Land of My Fathers”, “Butterfly Spread Your Ancient Wings” and “I Came into Town” – a song written when he was 15 years old and recorded when he was 19.