Taking the stage for what's easily the 100th time in almost as many days, Edwin McCain casually joins his band as they start off another set that's impossibly tight and laid back at the same time. By the time his vocals kick in, it's clear that this is no ordinary troubadour on the club circuit. This is Edwin McCain, the voice that is romance incarnate, that has launched a thousand marriages and stirred up Southern soul for over 20 years.
For the guy who always dreamed of a life on the road, Edwin's massive pop hits I'll Be and I Could Not Ask For More were like pulling into glamorous, exciting towns along his never-ending tour. They were life changing and sent him off with incredible memories and nifty souvenirs but were always just a part of the journey, not the destination. "I've been lucky enough to experience a pretty broad range of stardom, and the lack thereof, throughout my journey as a musician," he once said with a chuckle. "I've been on television shows and won awards, but I've also lived in the back of a truck, and I've even worked the Drive-Thru at Krispy Kreme singing wedding songs."
Surprising to him more than anyone else, those very songs have endured beyond all wildest expectations, turning into wedding anthems and misty-eyed soundtracks to countless wedding proposals. Over a million Dr. Phil viewers voted I'll Be as the best wedding song ever written, the New York Times dubbed him the "great American romantic," and at any given moment on this very day a radio station in America is playing one of his songs.
"They're kind of emotional road maps," Edwin explains, "and each one, especially if you're connected to it in some real way, can change and grow and lead you in new directions of thought." "But the highlight of what I do is playing for and connecting with the people that come out to see me live. The fans - and I hate to call them fans - the friends of music that survive the advertising campaign long enough to understand what music is truly about, and have incorporated my music into their lives to the point where it is are part of their memories and emotions - those are the ones I do it all for."
"It's not about chart positions or record sales or anything like that," insists the man with 11 albums, a wall of platinum and gold albums that have sold in the millions, and reams of Top 10, 20 and 40 hits, "it just has to do with people coming together and sharing a moment, that's it. And that's all I ever wanted to do. I just love that moment in the small club and bar where every single person in there has a moment where it's silent and they get it and it's beautiful, that moment where the music that's coming off the stage is much more than the players and much more than the audience and something happens and you're sitting there and your hair stands up. That's it, man. I love it."
Tickets for Edwin McCain are $37.00 for Premium seating, $32.00 for the Orchestra and $27.00 for the Balcony. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the Box Office at 973-383-3700.
The historic Newton Theatre, located at 234 Spring Street in Newton, NJ, was founded in 1924. Revitalized and fully renovated, Sussex County's premier entertainment venue reopened in 2011 as a 605 seat capacity live performing arts center. With it's rich history and diverse programming The Newton Theatre is essential to the buoyancy of New Jersey's Skylands region. More information about The Newton Theatre may be found by calling 973-383-3700 or by visiting its website at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com .
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