David Mac Kechnie

Biography and Story

I’m sitting here this morning in Southern Oregon in our, Marie’s and my, little house in the woods. It’s four-thirty, dark out and it’s raining. Life is, for me, exactly what it is supposed to be. I don’t have a lot of money, I still go to work every day to repair and build things. I am truly a lucky man.

I still write lyrics nearly every morning as I have for fifty years. It is what I know I am supposed to do.

I am blessed, as I have always been, with fellow composers and writers who are supremely talented friends. Together, Michael, Kent, Sam, a few others and I keep it going.

Today I just wonder where all the time went. It seems minutes ago, I was six years old and my grand-mother died, a year later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor while my sister and I sat watching a double feature in the Rivoli Theater in Van Nuys, California…high school…the Army…Korea…two unspectacular years at college on the GI bill and then two great things happened. I met Marie and wrote my first song. I still have a copy. It is and was awful but it was the start.

All the years leading up to this moment are truly a blur. I worked days and wrote nights and weekends while Marie worked too and raised me and three great kids.

I started writing mostly pop-folk things with David Dillon….Met our life-long friend Eddie Beal who helped teach me and with him wrote a thing for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr…was introduced to Jerry Fielding whom in the years to follow would write songs for a number of movies scored by him…

“The Outfit”…”Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?”… “Unwed Father”…”Junior Bonner”…”Bad News Bears” and “Below the Belt” a 12 song, song score sung by Billy Preston and Jennifer Holiday….Met Steve Gillette who sang one song in the “Outfit” and began collaborating with him, writing a number of songs for his country album and one single for John Denver “Sweet Melinda”…

Made a number of trips to Nashville and wrote without much success for Tree Music but really started to learn the craft of writing….returned to Los Angeles and was introduced to Kin Vassy who signed me as a staff writer at Kenny Rogers….Kenny recorded “The Farther I Go the Closer you Get”….Kin, Mark Beeson and I wrote “Phones Are Ringing” for Martina McBride…and on we go…

And here I am this morning, exactly where I am supposed to be. It’s starting to get light out and it looks like it will rain all morning. Michael will be over for dinner and we may start another song.

[Please note: The preceding was a brief, shallow try at explaining a life There are no words to ever convey the pure excitement of this time on earth nor the deep feeling of celebration at the path laid out before me and all people I have been honored to meet along the way…Thanks for it and all the music.]

~ Mac Kechnie ~

---

Fresh From
the
Karat Patch...

Where it's all about
the Song!

---

15 Songs
by

Kent Maxson

Michael Jarrett

David Mac Kechnie

"Just Outside Nashville" CD/Album Information