Album Notes

Singer-songwriter Michael McCarthy is a gifted musician with the soul of a poet. Raised on the sounds of rock legends past, his musical flow comes out classic and timeless. A respected and dedicated Los Angeles native with insights to the human heart rarely seen in the rock format, McCarthy’s songs acknowledge the darkness in us all while always moving towards the light.

His current disc “Michael McCarthy & the Beautiful Fools” captures the essence of a man striving to erase the confusion and spiritual disconnection of urban life. Michael’s assertive honey glazed rasp of a voice reveals a wise beyond his years perspective that is honest and sincere. In the current style over substance landscape of popular music this simple approach sets him apart from the pack. Michael’s rag-tag backing group the Beautiful Fools accompany him with ferocity and grace. Vintage keyboards, bass, drums and lush female background vocals compliment McCarthy’s guitar playing and singing without detracting from the messages in his songs.

The thick-dirge onslaught of opening track “Close The Door” casts a spell of unfulfilled yearning that sets the tone nicely for this collection. Followed by the poignant lushly arranged “What To Do” Michael lovingly relates to his depressed and dangerously self-destructive lover that life is worth living. In the slinky sex stomp of “Come On To Me” he calls his passive-aggressive feline pursuer out with, “You grazed me with your tit/Like it was some accident.” Closing with the solo acoustic masterpiece “Still Holding On” Michael demonstrates his willingness to believe in redemption even in his darkest hour when he howls, “My hands are strong/and I’ll be holding on til you answer my prayer.”

Michael McCarthy's unforgettable voice, clever lyricism and accomplished guitar-work have served him well in the unpredictable world of rock n' roll. His tune, "Here's To Your Life" was featured in the award-winning indie film "Pop & Me," and McCarthy was also touted by Movieline Magazine as Fox Movies' "breakout star" for his vocal performance in the film "Where The Heart Is" alongside Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. Michael's many talents inspired Music Connection Magazine to proclaim, "(McCarthy's) songs have enough hooks to snag every person alive...pop music at its finest...done so well it's almost mythological...."

McCarthy's world-class musicianship and dedication to his craft continues to attract much industry attention. Upon the release of his highly-anticipated EP this past June 2004, Michael was hand-picked to play guitar on Haylie Duff's cross-country summer tour, playing to packed arenas of screaming kids every night as she supported her sister Hilary Duff. Michael also worked as Music Director for the new MTV songwriting competition show called “Score” hosted by Ryan Cabrera which aired it’s first season in November 2005. His music has been licensed for use extensively in MTV’s “Wanna Come In?”, “Score” and The Logo Channel’s “Open Bar”. A new full-length album is in the works. Stay tuned...