Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves perform as part of Underground Sound Series in Beaver Creek

Paul McDonald ultimately stayed true to himself and his authentic voice during his twenty years of touring, but that wasn’t always easy.

He grew up in Alabama and grew up listening to Southern Rock bands like The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He then discovered the sounds of the late 1960s and 1970s in the form of the Laurel Canyon scene through the likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Joni Mitchell. He combined that with a bit of Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones and Neil Young. At the age of 15, his father gave him a guitar for Christmas, and he started writing songs.

At the age of 16, he was playing shows around town. He began touring full-time with a band he started in his early 20s called Hightide Blues. He was two classes removed from majoring in biomedical sciences before the universe, as he describes it, drew him to music again.

“Over the years it evolved into my own style – just trying to tune into my authentic self,” he said.

After touring with several bands, an “American Idol” scout called him, and in 2011 he joined the show. He came eighth, which was enough to change his life. He ended up with a new world of famous friends and PR people, a celebrity wedding in Los Angeles, a song on the Twilight soundtrack and a whole lot of fame.

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“I saw behind the curtain and realized that no matter how nice it looked on the outside, it wasn’t really for me,” he said, adding that “American Idol” led him into the world of pop culture, where he met amazing people met. producers and actors, but “it pulled me away from the Americana and rock ‘n’ roll that I was doing with my band. The amount of people coming into my environment was almost overwhelming, and I tried to stay true to myself without becoming difficult. I ended up saying yes to a lot of things, which taught me a lot about what I wanted and what I didn’t want. There were some great moments, but other things, man, I was like, ‘If this ever comes up again, I’m going to use my voice for good.’

After a few years, he decided to leave LA, went through a public divorce and headed to Nashville to regain his voice. During that time, he launched the One Big Love Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, bringing artists from Nashville and beyond to local charities.

He also independently released his debut solo album ‘Modern Hearts’ with producer Jordan Lehning. It provided a more alternative rock approach, but he didn’t feel like he was quite where he wanted to go.

“We made it with the best of the best,” he says. “As cool as that was, you’re at the mercy of the sound of session guys… I felt like I was singing my songs in someone else’s band… and on the road your guys don’t sound like the record.”

So he spent five years writing and recording – scrapping a few fully produced albums before discovering exactly what he wanted to say. He realized that his favorite records he had released came from a group of friends from his hometown: a bassist he considered the city’s best in the funk scene, a drummer who loved metal, and a guitarist from a jam band.

“It created a beautiful blend of sounds that didn’t resemble anything else,” he said. “I was always trying to find that, and you can’t find that without putting in the time and building a bond.”

Even in Nashville he encountered a series of rules and policies, some of which prevented him from playing a venue more than once.

“I just want to make music. Politics doesn’t interest me, because music makes me happy. I looked again at what I had left behind and realized that was where the real magic was,” he said.

So he formed The Mourning Doves, and they started playing everything from small clubs to hamburger joints. Last year they started recording their latest album, which is yet to be titled or released. But from the start he knew he had found the sound he was looking for.

“With this new record I’m going back to basics. “I feel like it took me ten years to get out of the whirlwind of ‘American Idol,’ television and public relations,” he said, adding that when they recorded the songs, “I knew right away, there it is.” This is the sound I’ve been looking for for years.”

He integrates songs he has been working on over the years, each representing a time marker in his growth and evolution.

“I’ve realized that it’s not about being the best. It’s about being yourself,” he said. “It sounds pretty simple, but it took me a long time to get back.”

The album combines Americana, rock and soul, with a strong emphasis on positivity. They’re kind of the greatest hits from the past five albums that he never released.

“I had a lot of sad songs — I went through breakups,” he said of the years after the “American Idol” experience. “I was writing a lot of woe-is-me, sad songs, and when you do that you start to attract a lot of woe-is-me people. I want to bring joy and positivity to the community. …I’m 40 now and I don’t write about divorces. I write about more life and death and personal matters – and think outside the box. It’s just real connection.”

Music has always been a way for him to figure out and navigate what he’s doing on this earth, he said. While he’s done some “cool” things over the past decade, like getting remarried and writing for artists on Music Row, he realized that ultimately time is extremely valuable and he wants to make his own authentic music with the time he has. left.

“Now I play music for fun, and people are drawn to it because it’s fun,” he said. “It just feels like I’m exactly where I need to be.”

He and his band have been playing the songs that will be on his new record at live shows, to great reception, he said. They’ve also built a community, including fans who follow them from show to show.

“The live shows were electric,” he said. “You’ll laugh and cry and dance – it does everything you expect from a great show. I’ll drop some heartbreakers in there and we’ll get right to it. It’s really fun. It’s a rejuvenation. You leave the show feeling much better than when you got there. There is a sense of community, of connection with each other and connection with the music. There is something for everyone.”