Personal songs and tall tales: Paul McDonald writes from the heart and imagination

Paul McDonald is no stranger to music.

His career began when he picked up a guitar at 15 and he started touring and playing shows. His most recent project, Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves, makes a stop in Albuquerque on Friday, July 12, as part of the Zoo Music series at The ABQ BioPark Zoo, 903 10th St. SW. The show starts at 7 p.m.

“I have been in all kinds of bands over the years,” he said. “And, we just put together this new band that’s backing me up. It’s called Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves. And it kind of goes back to my roots, which is a little bit of soul, rock ‘n’ roll, country, gospel, kind of all intertwined, you know, stuff I grew up on. Again, it’s just been really fun. These new shows that we’ve been playing as of recent have just been really impactful. It seems like everybody’s having a great time and the mission behind the music is to bring people together, you know, peace, love and all the good things.”

McDonald’s musical influences, such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, are apparent in his music.

“The songwriting is kind of Americana-based songwriting with a cool rock ‘n’ roll band behind it,” he said. “So, if you like bands like Tom Petty, you’re really gonna love it. Someone the other night came up to me and said, ‘You’re like, a mixture of Ray LaMontagne meets the Rolling Stones.’ I’m like, all right, cool. I’ll use that one the next time someone asks.”

McDonald said he is grateful to be compared to such revered musicians.

“I grew up listening to country, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, a bunch of different things,” he said. “And the older that I’ve (gotten), the more years I’ve spent kind of honing my craft, (I’ve) just kind of come up with my own distinct sound that kind of mixes all of my favorite things and this season in particular, feels like some of my best music I’ve ever made. (It’s) just my favorite in general.”

McDonald will be performing some music off his upcoming album at the Zoo Music show.

“It’s been really good getting out there and playing these songs live,” he said. “And I have a feeling it’s going to be a really fun show.”

McDonald said he takes different approaches when it comes to songwriting.

“It’s almost kind of a numbers game when you’re going in there and you’re writing every single day and occasionally (there is) something good,” he said. “It’s almost like fishing or it’s like magic. A lot of my favorite songs or songs that have been most impactful to people have kind of just come all at once in a way where I’m just sitting around, I pick up a guitar and press record.”

He said the writing process is where you have to let the song lead the way.

“You kind of have to open yourself up and be a vessel because it really is kind of magic making a song out of nothing,” he said. “You can obviously pull from all kinds of different inspiration, but the further I go, I try not to force it anymore and kind of let it come in whenever it comes in. I’m actively trying to write songs, whether I pick up a guitar and start strumming some chords and humming a melody or I’ll hear somebody out and about say something, and I go, ‘Oh, wow, that’s a cool phrase. I like that. That could be a song.’ ”

He said he will write a song around a phrase that inspires him or base a song on another person’s story.

“Just talking to people in general, you hear all kinds of stories and I’ve recently just been taking other people’s stories and putting together this puzzle,” he said. “It’s really fun. You should try it.”

McDonald said living in the moment and taking in your surroundings is usually a song in the making.

“That’s the beautiful thing about music,” he said. “It’s just this universal language that you get to meet so many amazing people and everybody has their own story. If you’re a good listener, there’s plenty of material out there to write about. It doesn’t always have to be about you. It can be about anyone and anything. You can also just sometimes make up a story about something completely outrageous and treat it like it’s a real story. There’s no rules.”