Possessing a truly unique blend of the best aspects of well-produced pop recordings and the powerful insightfulness of the best of the singer/songwriter genre, the creative duo known as Roan Yellowthorn are set to unveil their debut album Indigo, on Sept. 28.
Comprising real-life couple Jackie McLean and Shawn Strack, the talented twosome met while both were studying at Bard College, never really intending to pursue music as their collective vocation, even though both were eminently talented players and McLean possessed a keen, if underutilized gift for composing memorable melodies alongside deeply personal and revelatory lyrics. But times and circumstances changed – for the betterment of music fans.
Soon, the couple relocated to the bucolic surroundings of small-town upstate New York, built their Nada Recording Studio, and pulled together a self-produced five-song EP in 2015. That was the catalyst for the more immersive Roan Yellowthorn project, leading directly to the songs crafted for what would be the Indigo album, and landing the group a record deal with boutique independent label Blue Elan Records.
Roan Yellowthorn is the name of the project, but is also, in a sense, the nom de plume of McLean – a persona created for the stage but one that allows her to create and perform with a little more freedom and abandon.
“The way it started was to be an alternative name for me as an artist, so I could feel that I had a safe space to write in. I do consider it to be a pseudonym for me on stage and also the name of the project that Shawn and I do,” she said, adding that the stage name was also partially invented to create a bit of separation between her and her lineage. McLean is the daughter of legendary American singer/songwriter Don McLean, who wrote and recorded one of the most popular songs of all time, American Pie.
“I guess it was the fact that I kind of grew up with that following me around, although it was probably bigger in my mind than it was for others. I grew up in a really small town in Maine and that was kind of something that people would ask me about, and it made me feel like I didn’t have my own identity. I’d like the fact of who my dad is to be more of a footnote – an interesting fact. And I think that’s where part of the tension in my life was coming from over the years. I think some people I knew expected me to do music just because I was known for being really musical. And then there is the added pressure of feeling like I have to do it because my parent has already made a successful career out of it.”
Even though music was always an integral part of McLean’s life and something she truly did want to do for a vocation, she still came to the Roan Yellowthorn project in a very organic and serendipitous manner.
“I’s always been my passion, but I have come to do it seriously in sort of a circuitous route. The music has happened completed on my own. It’s the reality of my life, although there must be a genetic component because my brother and I both did not plan to do music as the main thing in our lives. We just had the conversation the other day about how it was kind of weird that we are both doing music right now,” McLean said.
“My brother Wyatt is incredibly talented, and he is focussing on writing songs. He is an amazing guitar player, one of the best I have ever seen, except he isn’t focussing the performance side of the business, he is keying on being a songwriter. And my dad is supportive of both of us. And it’s interesting, when we talk, we talk about other things, we don’t talk about music. For me it’s a very personal thing. I don’t share my songs that are in progress except with Shawn. But we have a great relationship, I am really close to my dad and my brother.
“My dad is really supportive. When I told him I was doing music, he was excited for me and wants to be there to cheer me on, just like any proud dad. And he let us do our own thing. Even today, he hasn’t stepped in and tried to take over and tell us how to do things. He has wanted me and my brother to find our own path and do what we want, what makes us happy.”
And what has made McLean and Strack happy is finally seeing the completion and forthcoming release of Indigo. It’s an album that is infused with emotional depth, and thematically tackles the troubling, questioning and sometimes darker thoughts that have plagued McLean over the years. This is typified by the hauntingly beautiful and darkly sweet title track.
“I wrote that two summers ago and I was going through an existential crisis where I felt that even though I was an adult living on my own, I didn’t have a career necessarily. I had all these artistic ambitions but at the time they’re weren’t being realized. And I felt that everyone else was moving on without me; people that I went to school with were already established as one thing or another and I just felt self-conscious about it and frustrated and unsure if anything would materialize in terms of my artistic desires,” she explained.
“I just started writing very honestly about how I was feeling, just plainly and honestly trying to be transparent and get my feelings on the page. That was how the verses went but then when I got to the chorus the tone kind of changed. I was like ‘f**k it’ this is me!’ I wanted to embrace the fact that, yeah I am not sure what I am doing in life, and I don’t know if I will actually be what I want to be, but this is where I am right now and it’s okay.”
Of a similar vein is the epic closing song on the album, On the Outside.
“The story behind that song is that during the same summer that I was having this existential crisis, I ended up getting put in contact with this really big producer. He was huge and produces a lot of the top pop songs. So, I emailed him, but he never got back to me. It was such a roller coaster ride of emotions for me, thinking well maybe something is finally within reach. Then it didn’t materialize. I was devastated and frustrated and my crisis got worse after that. Again, this song is me feeling unsure and frustrated and a little bit afraid of what will happen next and embracing that feeling – that sense of being on the outside,” McLean said, adding that the process of songwriting acts as an emotional catharsis.
“Every time I have written a song, from the first time I started writing, it’s been in order to purge feelings from me that are so strong that I can’t deal with them. It’s a way for me to process something that I am feeling and put it outside of myself, so I can be free of it. And it works on older pain and older memories too. The first single Talk About It, is an example of that because it’s like having so much emotional turmoil from a break up that was so hard for me to deal with at the time [more than seven years ago], and I just dumped it all into this song. And once it’s in the song, it’s now outside of me and gives me a sense of peace.
“Writing songs has helped me get rid of old stuff that was coming up for me over and over again, stuff that I never dealt with. It’s like cleaning out the emotional attic in my heart – that’s what it feels like. And I can’t force songs to come. I can’t just sit down and say, ‘okay I am going to write a song now.’ It has to be inspired by a strong feeling or a strong memory. I have to go through my attic and clear out old stuff that is haunting me a bit.”
Strack’s role in the process is to help McLean corral the ideas and bring them into focus during the writing process. Both have found that there is a unique synergy between the two, most likely stemming from the fact that they are partners in life as well as music. Strack and McLean realized early on the pivotal role he plays in crafting the music, but also ensuring the emotional intensity and musicality if the songs shines through on the final recorded product.
“I can actually translate the weird things that she says. Jackie will say to me ‘I want this part to feel like I am flying though space and there are stars twirling around me.’ And I will say, okay I got that,” he said.
“When I graduated from college, I was on my own and living in a new place and I was not sure really how to become a recording artist. It just worked out the Shawn ended up being really fricken good at every instrument and also really good at producing. And each step of the way, we didn’t actually know that was the case. I started writing and I needed somebody to play with and Shawn said, ‘I am going to learn drums.’ He just started practicing every day and he became incredible at the drums,” said McLean.
“And then we decided we wanted to record some of the songs. So, Shawn said, ‘well I am going to try to produce this.’ And it turns out he is the best fricken producer. It’s funny how it worked out. It wasn’t planned that way, but it turned out perfectly.”
Strack said he too had musical ambitions in his youth but put them on the back burner as he pursued higher education. He was completing a master’s degree in education when he met McLean, who was an undergrad at the same school. Strack finished and became an English teacher, a position he still holds.
“When I was a kid I was really into music and I learned guitar and bass in my early teens. I played in bands constantly until I went to graduate school. But then I didn’t really have people to play with and I didn’t have the time to pursue music because I had to write 50-page papers all the time. After Jackie and I met seven years ago and after we got married five years ago, she had this desperate need to make music and I encouraged her. Once I heard the songs I knew I wanted to play on them and help record them because they were so good,” he said.
With Strack heading back to his teaching gig in a couple of weeks, extensive tours in support of Indigo aren’t in the offing for Roan Yellowthorn, but the couple say they do as many weekend jaunts as they can once the album is released at the end of September.
“And we would love to come to Canada. My mom is from Montreal and we have family up there, so we go to Montreal a lot. It would be really fun to play there and some other places in Canada too,” said McLean.
For more information on upcoming shows and Indigo, visit https://roanyellowthorn.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
