McGrath (second from right): “I love being on the road. It’s second nature.”
Crawly Photography
After losing most of their catalog due to a copyright error, The McGrath Project has kept plugging along. Frontman Gary McGrath’s outfit even has a couple of upcoming tour dates with members from Guns N’ Roses and Bon Jovi, including here in North Texas.
Fort Worthian McGrath, who’s been alt-rocking for two decades, said he’s known Bon Jovi’s Phil X, GNR’s Gilby Clarke, and ’90s singer-songwriter Jill “I Kissed a Girl” Sobule for a while.
All it took for a musical get-together for McGrath was picking up the phone. “I decided to just ask, ‘Hey, can we do three to five dates a month doing this route?’ They said yes, and we got together with management and booking agents and made it happen.”
Along with North Texas, there’ll be stops in Austin and Lubbock along with spots along the East and West coasts.
Having shared stages with Vanilla Fudge’s Tim Bogert, Spencer Davis, The Outfield’s Tony Davis, ’80s pop star Tiffany, and members of Three Dog Night, The Monkees, the Doobie Brothers, and more, McGrath allows the big-league connections he’s made over the years to make life onstage all over beautiful.
“I love being on the road,” McGrath said. “It’s second nature. I have been friends with Phil X and Gilby Clarke since 2010, so this tour is really a homecoming to that effect.”
The McGrath Project also went and re-recorded all of their taken-down music. Coming out in January, the 10-track Closet Full of Skeletons offers “fresh takes” on material from the band’s earlier releases, including 2012’s certified-gold Love Is a 4 Letter Word, Vol. 1. Along with McGrath on guitar and vocals, the project is rounded out by vocalist Bree Littlepage, bassist Devin Littlepage, drummer Guyton Sanders, and keyboardist Victor Toruno.
Vanilla Fudge’s Tim Bogert (left) and Spencer Davis from the Spencer Davis Group sandwich Fort Worth’s McGrath. Courtesy the artist
“As far as re-recording my own music, I’m fine with it,” McGrath said. “Over time, I wish I could redo this or add that or take away this, so I finally get to release the music the way it is in my head.”
The McGrath Project recorded Skeletons at Reeltime Audio in Denton (Brave Combo, Bowling for Soup, Slobberbone) and with Kent Stump (The Toadies, Rev. Horton Heat, Joshua Ray Walker) at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas. KXT, KTCU, and 91.7-FM The Eagle are currently spinning the McGrath Project single “When Did.”
The tour will start right after the album comes out in January.
“The question is: How do we continue?” McGrath said. “Our plan is spending the summer playing various music festivals, and we have been invited to open for some of these same headliners in Japan. We don’t know if that will come to pass, but the offer was thrilling, so we will see.”
The McGrath Project
7:30pm Fri, Jan 17, opening for Phil X & The Drills at the Haltom Theater, 5601 Belknap St, Haltom City. $35. 682-250-5678.
The original McGrath Project featured (from left to right) Three Dog Night’s Dean Minnerly, McGrath, the Doobie Brothers’ Chet McCracken, and Tim Bogert of Vanilla Fudge. Courtesy the artist
