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Yacht Rock Revue explain why they're charting a new course with original music

Sarah Rodman is the Entertainment Editor, covering TV and music for EW.

After nearly a dozen years confidently steering the S.S. Nostalgia, playing the beloved soft rock hits of the ’70s and ’80s to packed crowds wearing captain’s hats, Yacht Rock Revue are charting a new course by releasing their first album of original material. Hot Dads in Tight Jeans won’t be released until Feb. 21, but EW is bringing you the first single, “Step,” right here.

“We wanted to hit a note that was both retro and could be right now,” says shades-sporting co-frontman Nick Niespodziani of the synthy-smooth jam. “We wanted it to be outside of time.”

That musical mood dovetails nicely with the vibe of a group that began on a lark in 2007 and has steadily grown into an act that crisscrosses the country to play for its own devoted fans. The Atlanta septet can draw thousands of people to sing along to spot-on renditions of hits by Hall & Oates, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and other artists whose names some in the audience have forgotten, or never knew, but whose hits have endured, such as “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” by Looking Glass. While there may have been an element of irony for some attendees at the beginning, the shows tend to be unabashedly joyous affairs.

Niespodziani, drummer Mark Cobb, and co-frontman Peter Olson were all in a band called Y-O-U in the early 2000s that enjoyed some regional success but ended up petering out. “We were all splitting off to do other things,” says Niespodziani. “Peter was thinking about moving to Colorado and I had started law school and we were all kind of ready for what was happening after music. Because when you’re 27 and you haven’t made it yet, you’re an ancient guy. And in the midst of that we did this one Yacht Rock show and then all of a sudden it became what it is now. We’ve got an office, and a band, and a 401k.”

Soon they will have that album of original material as well as a documentary detailing their unlikely route to success as they rose from bar band to amphitheater band.

In addition to sharing “Step,” the group also curated the ultimate Yacht Rock Spotify playlist for EW, and we chatted with Niespodziani about the band’s step toward original songwriting and mixing up the smooth classics in their set.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve finally decided to make original music, again. How much anxiety do you have about fan reception since they’re used to you playing songs they love? NICK NIESPODZIANI: We played it for the first time at our big Atlanta show in August at Chastain Park Amphitheater in front of 7,000 people. I was pretty nervous because all these songs that we play, everybody knows every word. Like, every song we play would be the encore for whatever artist it is that we’re covering. So how do you put up a song that people have never heard before, at all, against those songs? I was originally super nervous about it, but our fans really surprised me. I expected everybody to leave for the bathroom or the bros to start booing. But they stayed and they got into it, and the reception everywhere we’ve been with it has been awesome. People are into it. So I’m much less nervous now than I was before.

The album itself is not a “yacht rock” record but is obviously in a similar wheelhouse and has a cheeky humor to it. Do you get the sense that you’ve built up enough goodwill from the fans since you’ve been playing for so long that they’re open to original songs? Yeah, and I’ve noticed, especially over the last three or four years, when we go places, whether it’s the people at the venue or the fans that we’ve talked to, they treat us like artists. In the beginning, I felt like a glorified stripper where people just wanted to pull my hair and see if it was real and it was more of a novelty thing. But now I feel like we’ve earned that respect from our fans and they’re open to it, or at least they have been so far. I’m hoping that that streak continues.

How did you decide that now was the time for you guys to try this? I was kind of going through my midlife crisis checklist, choices like “I could wreck a red sports car” or “I could have an affair with a busty nurse.” And I was like, “You know what I really should do is make an album with my ’70s soft rock band.” So we threw the idea around and were like, “Why not try it,” talking about that goodwill we built up with our fans. The cool thing for me especially is that I’ve made a lot of records over the years, little side projects that had no budget and no hope for people to hear them. And this experience has been the opposite of that. We were able to get an incredible producer and make a cool video all with the power of the Yacht Rock machine that we’ve built behind it. And it’s been really inspiring and fun.

Who produced it? Ben Allen, he’s from here in Atlanta. He produced Walk The Moon and Animal Collective’s big records and he just did the new Kaiser Chiefs record, which is [a hit] in the UK right now. He did Gnarls Barkley. He’s a close friend of mine and I was kind of nervous, even though we hang out and go to the gym together, to ask him about making a record with Yacht Rock because I thought there would be this stigma because he produces Deerhunter and all these super hipster bands. And he was immediately like, “Yeah, let’s do it. That sounds really fun.”

A song like “Step” could probably slip into your sets with relative ease since it has that blue-eyed soul falsetto thing happening that spans from disco, like a sliver of Giorgio Moroder, to a group like Hall & Oates to something like Beck’s song “Debra.” Yeah, we definitely leaned on more on that ’80s side of the coin, Hall & Oates and even some ’80s David Bowie and some of the synthier stuff like Giorgio Moroder. That just strikes closer to our personal taste and I think it’s easier to see how that fits in with modern music. Whereas if you make something that’s just like a Steely Dan rip, that’s really a very segmented thing off to the side.

We didn’t want to come out with something that could maybe be viewed as a novelty single for the first thing. When you’re a cover band coming out with original music, getting taken seriously is the first hurdle that you have to leap over. So “Step” felt like the right choice because it’s a mission statement for the whole album in a way. It’s about deciding who you want to be and making the space for that in your life.

I guess in my view everyone is putting on an act of some sort. We pretend to be these coked-up ’70 dudes, but we are who we are inside and I’m inspired by people like Lizzo and Pete Buttigieg and Puddles The Clown. It’s definitely an act that all of them are doing, but the heart of what they’re doing is true. The center of it emotionally is honest and unapologetic. And that’s what “Step” is about. And that’s what this whole album is about for us. Because we are a bunch of 40-year-old dads who are trying to make our first record that people listen to, why not just bear hug it instead of run away from it?

Do you ever think how wild it is that you all have built a career out of this, particularly since you’re not a straight tribute band of one group? All the time. It’s crazy. If you would’ve told me when we did the first show “that this is going to be your career,” I would have slapped you in the face. There’s just no way. I never imagined doing something like this. And it’s funny because I feel like in that early band, I thought music was all about what’s inside of you as an artist and that if I can find inside myself this great, soul-wrenching truth that will be the reason that I become famous and whatever. And I think over the years with Yacht Rock — grudgingly at first — I started to realize that music is actually about the shared experience and being there in the room together, having fun, and just escaping from life for a while. And I feel like it’s been this 11-year penance that I’ve gone through, and now I’ve come out on the other side and I have a completely different view of what music is and what it should be. That’s what inspired this record and it makes me so happy to do what I do now.

Which is funny on one level because probably for 90 percent of what you’re performing, the original artist is sick to death of playing that song. But you all have now performed some of these songs so many times that it is entirely possible that you are as sick of singing something like “Africa” as Toto is. And yet you always legitimately seem like you are having fun. It’s funny you mention “Africa.” That’s the only song we have to play at every show. And I think it kind of goes through waves. It’s like a Saturday Night Live joke where they keep repeating the same thing and it gets really monotonous and not funny. And then if you repeat it for long enough, it becomes funny again. It got to where it got old for a while and now it’s really fun to sing that song, even though I’ve probably sung it 2,000 times, literally. It’s not a problem.

Coldplay has to sing “Yellow” every night no matter what. There are five or six other songs they have to sing every night no matter what. We don’t have to do that. We have thousands of songs to choose from. So, in some ways, it’s been a blessing that we can stay fresher because we can always change out songs and add new songs.

Let’s talk about this playlist. You have a pretty wide range here, including yacht rock staples like Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin'” but also songs from Lake Street Dive and “Juice” by Lizzo. How do you all even define yacht rock now? For me, yacht rock is more of a vibe and an energy than necessarily “soft rock music made in Los Angeles between 1976 and 1984.” It’s more about when the song comes on, does it put a smile on your face in the first 10 seconds? If you use that as your first barrier to entry, then what can be considered yacht rock becomes a lot more wide. If you’re out cruising on your boat on Saturday afternoon, what’s going to feel good?

“Juice” is going to feel good. Yeah. And it feels like the transition from “I Keep Forgettin'” into “Juice” doesn’t feel like a hard left turn. It feels natural. I guess our perspective is that people are going to need yacht rock now and in the future, and what it can be is a lot wider than the strict dictionary definition. Lake Street Dive, they’re a genre-bender for me. I think that they have a lot of different influences. And again, it’s the positive energy behind it is what makes it yacht rock.

How did you pick the classic ones to intersperse in there? We wanted to make sure that anybody who hasn’t gotten familiar with the yacht rock yet — which I don’t know who that might be at this stage — got a good dose of the healthy vitamins of what real, 100-percent yacht rock is. So we picked the ones that felt right to us and then also had something in common with our record.

You’re in your forties now. Is this sustainable? Can you do this until you retire? That’s a great question. If “Bad Tequila” [from the upcoming album] ends up being like “Steal Away” was for Robbie Dupree, then I definitely can. That’s what this move is, just to see if we could have one song that makes people feel the same way that I felt when I danced with my wife to “Steal Away” at my wedding. And I’ve talked to Robbie about that. And he has this relationship with that song where he got tired of it and he loves it again. But for us, in the next 20 years, I don’t want to get morbid about it, but a lot of these bands that we love and the classic rock artists are going to age out of touring. And there’s going to be a void there and I hope that we will be positioned to help fill it. It’s weird to think about but it is true. It gives us a little bit of job security.

In the last few years, several other bands in this vein have popped up. How do you feel about that? I imagine it’s hard to be mad about other cover bands when you’re a cover band. It’s great that this music has become so popular and imitation is finest form of flattery, right? So when I see these bands doing our dance moves, or wearing the sailor outfits like we used to 10 years ago or adding the same songs to their setlists, that’s cool. Part of me wants to say, “Go get your own unoriginal idea.” But like you said, there’s no honor among thieves, really. So it’s fine. I got nothing but love for any of them. I think what we do stands on its own.

Yacht Rock Revue will hit the road for the Hot Dads in Tight Jeans tour Jan. 9 and will be pulling into ports across the country, from Boston to Los Angeles.

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• Sep 14, 2020

Faces of the 4th | Nick Niespodziani & Pete Olson

One night only. a cover band plays one hit wonders from the 70's in a smoky basement in the virginia highlands. the room is packed, the mood is groovy, and yacht rock revue is born..

Fast forward 11 years and I’m talking to Nick Niespodziani, singer, guitarist, leader of Yacht Rock Revue, and co-owner of Venkman’s, while he’s sitting in a hotel conference room eating a salad. “In the beginning there was an idea to do a night of 70’s one hit wonders. Like songs that everybody knew the words to but nobody knew who the band was. Like forgotten by time, kind of like some of the band members would’ve been if they hadn’t gotten in this band.”

I hear a “hey, hey” in the background, some laughter, and a final “here we are, 11 years later with a retirement plan.”

There sure aren’t any plans to retire anytime soon though. Yacht Rock Revue is still going strong today, as they’re on tour and sidestepping their way through the whole journey. Niespodziani didn’t imagine their success to be as big as it is though. There was a point where he realized that this wouldn’t last forever, and “needed to capitalize on this local C-list celebrity status and cash in on the restaurant.” Now, Venkman’s is born. A modern comfort food spot in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood that “ features eclectic live music curated by partners Nick Niespodziani and Peter Olson, ” vocalist, guitarist and percussionist of YRR.

Venkman’s is all about eating good food while listening to good music. They’re not trying to reinvent the hamburger, they just want you to have a tasty hamburger. The de facto leader’s favorite item on the menu right now is the chicken sandwich, and just as I’m about to make a joke comparing it to the Popeye’s chicken sandwich, he beats me and says “it’s better than Popeye’s” and I take his word for it.

I questioned whether or not the band or the restaurant would find the same success if they were located in a different neighborhood, but it seems as if it was never really a question to begin with. Their band used to practice in what used to be a rehearsal space across from Venkman’s, so they were familiar with the neighborhood and knew that the idea of the Beltline was in line with the values they wanted to keep with the restaurant. He also jokes: “We had our cars broken into in that neighborhood, so we knew.” A right of passage, some might say.

“We were always going to be a part of urban redevelopment in some way. It’s gone about the way that I thought. I didn’t realize we were as far ahead as we were, as challenging as it was in the beginning, but it’s coming around now.” People have since come up to him after YRR shows to talk about Venkman’s and the O4W neighborhood. “It’s a thing now, where before it was a mystery zone.”

Looking at the Venkman’s website, there’s an event that’s happening almost every night. What’s the best practice to balance being in a popular band while also owning a restaurant? “It’s not very balanced. You just kinda try to keep all the balls in the air and hope that they don’t fall.” And he doesn’t forget to give credit where credit is due. They have a great staff that holds it down while they’re on tour, and that’s “not just a PR statement, it’s actually very true.” They found out early on that people were wanting these events within the space they own, centered around the idea that they wanted to bring people together, sing songs, watch movies and eat food.

“That’s the cool thing about Venkman’s. If a venue only does acoustic singer/songwriter stuff, it has a certain type of audience that comes there. But that’s not what Venkman’s is playing. We have country shows, R&B shows, and brunches for kids that bring in soccer moms from the suburbs. It’s a pretty diverse audience. That’s one of the things about Venkman’s that I’m most proud of is that, on any given night you can go in and there can be a totally different vibe, a different age group, or demographic of people.”

As Niespodziani finishes his salad and our conversation comes to an end, we talk breakfast, his favorite being the duck egg hash from his restaurant. He continues to make a light sarcastic comment about Cracker Barrel being “good” to which I genuinely agree, and he responds with “that was a joke.”

Justice for Cracker Barrel!

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Yacht Rock Revue Release 'Between The Moon And New York City' Live Album From PBS Special

Today, these masters of smooth grooves unveil their live album, Between the Moon and New York City.

Embark on a journey down memory lane through radiant musical waters with Yacht Rock Revue. Today, these masters of smooth grooves unveil their live album, Between the Moon and New York City.

The new 15-track collection is the audio companion of the band's recent PBS Special that graced the airwaves on November 24, 2023. Captured on the Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City on July 7, 2023, this album transports audiences to the golden era of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Offering a reprieve from the daily hustle, it guides listeners on a musical odyssey through timeless hits.

Reminiscing on the concert special, lead vocalist Nicholas Niespodziani praised, “The vibe was epic that night, and I'm proud (while totally unsurprised) that our performance was as breathtaking as the setting. I can't wait to be flipping through the channels in a random hotel room and come across myself crushing some Doobies in front of the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The powerhouse 10-piece band — Nicholas Niespodziani (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion), Peter Olson (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion), Greg Lee (Bass, Vocals), Mark Dannells (Guitars, Vocals), Mark Bencuya (Keyboards, Vocals), David B. Freeman (Saxophones, Keyboards, Flute, Piccolo, Percussion, Vocals), Keisha Jackson (Vocals, Percussion), Kourtney Jackson (Vocals, Percussion), Jason Nackers (Drums), Ganesh Giri Jaya (Drums) — is set to tour through May, with additional dates to be announced soon. 

Sarah Bahr of The New York Times reported on her first-hand account of the free-flowing vibe the band injects into an audience, witnessing fans that “danced for two hours to tunes from the 1970s and '80s by Yacht Rock Revue.” Entertainment Weekly noted that “the shows tend to be unabashedly joyous affairs” while Joseph Hudak of Rolling Stone deemed them the “world's premier soft-rock party band.” 

Inspired by the golden era of soft rock, Yacht Rock Revue has mastered the art of recreating the breezy and laid-back tunes that defined a generation. From the sun-kissed melodies of Steely Dan and Michael McDonald to the velvety harmonies of Hall & Oates, their repertoire spans an ocean of beloved hits that evoke memories of palm trees, ocean breezes, and carefree summers. Since their formation in 2007, the band has amassed a devoted following, drawing fans from all walks of life to their extraordinary live performances. Their meticulous attention to detail and commitment to authenticity transport audiences to an era when yacht parties and smooth sailing were the norm.

Beyond the stage, Yacht Rock Revue's infectious energy extends to their fans, creating a community that celebrates the joy of music and the timeless allure of yacht rock. Their concerts transcend mere shows; they are immersive experiences leaving audiences yearning for more.

However, Yacht Rock Revue is more than just a tribute band; they are musical alchemists seamlessly blending their distinctive style with the iconic yacht rock vibe. Their original compositions, such as the debut record titled Hot Dads In Tight Jeans, showcase the band's complete range of skills, simultaneously transporting listeners to a more modern era. While the first single, “Step,” is a lively number with falsetto and thumping bass, the rest of the album resonates with the contemporary vibes of bands like Phoenix or Air, which adapted Yacht for a younger audience.

Whether you're a longtime aficionado of the yacht rock era or a newcomer to its smooth grooves, Yacht Rock Revue promises an unforgettable journey across the azure waters of musical history. So don your captain's hat and set sail with Yacht Rock Revue for a melodic adventure like no other.

Yacht Rock Revue      

• Wed Jan 24, 2024 at 7:30PM Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 7:30PM Buy Now

What is left for YACHT ROCK REVUE to prove? This top-notch group of musicians has already rocked onstage with John Oates, Eddie Money (RIP), and both versions of the band Player. They’ve trademarked the term “yacht rock,” both metaphorically and literally (U.S. Registration Number 3834195). From humble beginnings in a basement, touring in partnership with Live Nation and Sirius XM, they now headline sold-out shows across the country, from Webster Hall in New York to the Wiltern in L.A. While rising from bars to amphitheaters, they’ve ticked every box on the Rock Star Accomplishments bingo card. Except for one: Writing and singing their own songs. Yacht Rock Revue’s first original record is ten songs inspired by the smoooooth sounds of the Seventies and Eighties. They’ve brazenly titled it Hot Dads In Tight Jeans – forgive them for bragging, but that’s what they are – and it returns Yacht Rock Revue to their roots in original music

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He Sang ‘What a Fool Believes.’ But Michael McDonald Is in on the Joke.

The singer and songwriter with a silky-smooth voice has written a memoir with Paul Reiser that recounts his story of pain and redemption with dashes of humor.

Michael McDonald’s new memoir is titled “What a Fool Believes,” after the Grammy-winning hit he wrote in 1978 with Kenny Loggins. Credit... Ariel Fisher for The New York Times

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By Alexandra Jacobs

Reporting from Santa Barbara, Calif.

• Published May 9, 2024 Updated May 16, 2024

The voice of Michael McDonald has been compared to velvet , silk and sandpaper , melted chocolate and last year, by a besotted 11-year-old girl, an angel . He has harmonized with the best in the business. But his latest duet might cause even the most Botoxed foreheads of Hollywood to furrow.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

“How you like us so far?” joked Paul Reiser, the actor and comedian, from one corner of a squishy sofa in McDonald’s Santa Barbara, Calif., aerie on a recent Tuesday morning. He was there to talk about the singer’s memoir, which they wrote together and will be published by Dey Street Books on May 21.

In the other corner, emanating the equanimity that’s as beloved as his baritone, was the man whose 50-plus-year career has included backup vocals for Steely Dan, Elton John , El DeBarge , Toto , Bonnie Raitt and on and on — backup so extensive and distinctive it’s inspired playlists on Apple Music and Spotify . He was wearing a paisley-patterned shirt, black trousers and, as one might expect of an angel who must tread this cursed Earth, puffy Hoka sneakers .

McDonald, 72, has also spent decades in the spotlight, albeit sidlingly, often with his famous blue eyes shut . (“Singing is such an intimate act,” he explains in the book, “and like kissing, it does no real good to see what the other person is doing.”) He led the Doobie Brothers in various iterations with his gospel-inflected keyboard style; released nine solo studio albums traversing multiple genres and continues to make live appearances at venues from Coachella to the Carlyle .

The book is titled “What a Fool Believes,” after the Grammy-winning hit McDonald wrote in 1978 with Kenny Loggins, though with some hesitation. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s just too obvious,’” he said. “I wanted it to be something clever and mind-provoking, and I couldn’t really think of anything because, you know, I have a problem provoking my own mind.”

He was convinced by Reiser, who among many other projects wrote the best-selling books “Couplehood” and “Babyhood” in the 1990s, and a follow-up, “Familyhood,” in 2011.

“I mean, how lucky am I?” McDonald said.

“Awwww,” Reiser said. But seriously: “He’s very introspective, which you don’t see at first and then you go, ‘Oh, this guy is deeper than you think.’” A beat. “Not that I thought you were shallow!”

As if in a marathon therapy session, they plunged together back to the past. McDonald grew up Irish Catholic, bracketed by two sisters in a suburb of St. Louis. His father was a streetcar driver and ex-Marine, a teetotaler with an eye for the ladies and a beautiful singing voice. His mother worked in a trading stamps store and had a weakness for pep pills. The marriage didn’t last.

He had an Aunt Mame with a Victrola from which, at age 5, he learned to imitate Mario Lanza warbling “ Love is a Many-Splendored Thing ”; an Aunt Bitsy who introduced him to Rodgers and Hammerstein; and an Aunt Ann Catherine whose record collection included, revelatorily, Ray Charles. Burt Bacharach was a big influence, too. Beatles-wise, he gravitated more toward McCartney than Lennon.

“I always related to him,” McDonald said, “because I could sense from him that he heard a lot of the same music I heard — that kind of barroom, Tin Pan Alley chord progression.”

In one devastating passage, McDonald writes of getting his girlfriend pregnant in eighth grade and biking over to confront her parents, who insisted, along with his own, that she give the baby up for adoption. Too young to sort through this emotional wreckage, he steered away. “Disappearing became my MO,” he writes. “Distancing myself from whatever it was that might require accountability.”

He dropped out of high school and joined a series of colorful-sounding bands — the Majestics, the Sheratons, the Delrays, the Guild, the Blue. Old ballrooms; natty threads. Beer and marijuana became staples, and later, after he moved to Los Angeles and began breaking into the big time, cocaine.

Referred to Steely Dan by the drummer Jeff Porcaro in 1973, he “came to rehearsal a few days later and knocked everyone out,” Donald Fagen, the band’s surviving founder, wrote in an email. “There was a serious discussion about whether he should replace me as the lead singer, which would have been my personal preference. But, for some dumb reason, I was voted down. I didn’t insist, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I mean, here’s this monster singer and musician, and he’s also really funny and a sweetheart of a guy. What’s not to like?”

Patti LaBelle called about recording “ On My Own ” (1986) with McDonald, after a solo version went sour. “I said, ‘The person I would love to sing it with is quiet, beautiful Michael,’” she remembered. Recently they crooned it together on a jazz cruise on the Norwegian Pearl where, she said, he confessed nerves beforehand; when he emerged onstage, the crowd went bananas. “He’s one of a kind. He comes out whispering and then — all this power. It’s like he doesn’t even open his mouth, he’s just so laid back.”

Indeed, so constitutionally low-key is McDonald that Loggins, with whom he also composed “ This is It ” and “ I Gotta Try, ” and who released his own memoir, “ Still Alright ,” in 2022, didn’t even know his old collaborator is about to join him on the bookshelves.

On the phone, Loggins remembered the first time he heard McDonald in the Doobies’ “ Livin’ on the Fault Line .” “I just felt like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a major American voice,’” he said. “He kind of goes into a trance when we write, and if I say ‘play it again,’ he won’t remember, so I have to record all the time. We have completely different styles vocally, but blend really well. It’s not logical.”

In 2005, the duo, along with Hall and Oates, Christopher Cross, Toto, Steve Perry and others, were affectionately spoofed in J.D. Ryznar’s web series, “ Yacht Rock .” A strain of the much-maligned catchall “adult contemporary” category was suddenly rebranded as “smooth music”: gleaming with high production values and a general mellifluence; the polar opposite of punk. McDonald was portrayed as the genre’s earnest common denominator: its anchor, its intergenerational secret sauce, who stumbles out of fashion and then rises again when “ I Keep Forgettin ’” is sampled by Warren G in 1994.

McDonald compared the yacht-rock phenomenon to oldies radio. “Even though I was a little ambivalent about both, at first, they turned out to be the two best things that ever happened to us from the ’70s,” he said, “because we kept getting airplay.”

This wasn’t his first time as a figure of comedy. In 1981, in an SCTV sketch, Rick Moranis portrayed McDonald driving intently down a highway in a convertible to clap on headphones and sing bits of backup for Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind” before rushing off to his next gig. McDonald contributed a song to the 1999 “South Park” movie and sang at a fictional “30 Rock” benefit . In “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005), an electronics-store manager played by Jane Lynch is excoriated by an employee for broadcasting a McDonald concert video ad nauseam. (“If I have to hear ‘ Yah Mo B There ’ one more time I’m going to yah mo burn this place to the ground!”) And in 2013 Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake donned silver McDonald wigs to sing “ Row, Row, Row Your Boat ” with him.

We have his current writing partner to thank, or blame, for the chapter title “Doobie or Not Doobie, That Is the Question.” Reiser, an accomplished musician himself who can sit down at the Yamaha and spontaneously ripple off a Rachmaninoff concerto, first encountered McDonald performing during an event at a neighbor’s house. “And in a surge of moxie, I went, ‘I live literally next door, and I got a music studio with two pianos that I put in just in case this ever happened,’” Reiser recalled. “Would you like to come over?’”

A jam session ensued. A friendship developed. Then the pandemic descended. McDonald thought that during lockdown he might apply himself with renewed vigor to his painting hobby . Reiser had another idea. “He’s the only reason the book exists, as far as I know,” McDonald said. “Putting one foot in front of the other was never my strong suit, on my own power. By myself, I become like a blob.”

McDonald’s wife, the singer Amy Holland, wandered briefly into their living room, which is large, cozy and barnlike, with plenty of blankets and candles and a banjo mounted on the wall bearing the visage of her mother, Verna Sherrill Boersma, who did a hillbilly routine as Esmereldy in the 1940s and resembled …. was it Bette Davis? “Celeste Holm,” McDonald said.

He and Holland were married in 1983, with David Pack, the lead singer of Ambrosia performing “Biggest Part of Me” at the reception. They have two adult children, a submissive golden retriever, and a possessive Chihuahua who sleeps in between the couple.

One of their previous pooches cringed at his singing, McDonald noted, and would try to pry his master’s hands off the piano keys every time he played.

“Everyone’s a critic,” Reiser said.

Working with McDonald, he said, was often just a process of having him slow down and fill out anecdotes that, to him, seemed like no big deal — Steely Dan partying in the penthouse of a London hotel, for one. “I’m going, ‘That’s like a Fellini movie!’” One chapter is devoted to an extended bender with the band’s co-founder, Walter Becker , who died in 2017; another features an unintentional acid trip. ( David Gest also makes an appearance.)

“I remember looking to the guys who seem to manage it well — guys who did a little of this and did a little of that but didn’t have a problem like I suspect that I already did,” McDonald said. “Their whole thing was ‘You just got to manage it — you can’t overdo it, man.’” He paused. “And every one of those guys, to a man, is gone.”

Sober since the mid-80s — he said his current vices are “food and sloth” — McDonald is not only still here, but discreetly ubiquitous.

Forget about velvet and silk: The more you read and think and listen, the more his voice seems like a connecting thread running through America’s popular-music tapestry that, if pulled, might unravel the whole thing — or at least, leave a significant, unmendable hole.

And yet, he said, “to this day I keep expecting the doors to fly open and the impostor police to come and grab me and take me out.”

Read by Alexandra Jacobs

Audio produced by Jack D’Isidoro .

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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Michael Cohen testifies in Trump trial and orcas sink yacht off Spain: Morning Rundown

Michael Cohen could face cross-examination today in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. A Jan. 6 rioter and a Capitol Police officer are on the ballot today. And a woman is working to regain movement after she said a punk rocker's stage dive left her seriously injured.

Here’s what to know today.

Michael Cohen returns to the stand to detail hush money payment

Donald Trump’s longtime fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen is back on the witness stand today in the former president’s hush money trial. Cohen is expected to delve into payments he said he received from Trump in return for hush money paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

At the heart of yesterday’s testimony was a running theme: that Trump was personally aware of every step in the payments both to Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal — an allegation that prosecutors had failed thus far to show. Cohen told the jury that Trump directly authorized him to pay Daniels $130,000. Cohen said that he then paid Daniels with his own money, and that Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, devised a plan to form an outside shell company to repay Cohen in installments that were listed as being for legal services provided under a retainer agreement. Cohen testified that no such retainer existed. Read more highlights from Day 16 of the trial.

The defense, for weeks, has sought to puncture Cohen’s credibility with the jury, and witnesses have painted him as hot-headed, self-interested and untrustworthy. Expect more of that when cross-examination begins, as early as today. Here’s what else is in store today.

This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

More Trump trial news:  

• Trump risks jail if he attacks witnesses in his hush money trial. But his allies don’t, and  they’re increasingly launching the broadsides  that Trump can’t.

Troop movement seen by U.S. suggests Israel could expand Rafah operations soon

The U.S. has seen recent troop movement on the edge of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, that indicates Israel could expand operations there soon, according to two officials. However, it is unclear whether Israel has made a final decision about when and how to proceed. It is also unclear whether a larger incursion into Rafah would be days or weeks away.

The U.S. continues to urge Israel not to go “smashing into” Rafah in a major offensive and to ensure appropriate humanitarian precautions, the second official said. Here’s what else we know.

Jan. 6, Senate matchups and party fights: What to watch in tonight’s primaries

Voters head to the polls in four states today for primaries that will set up key Senate races and settle other intraparty battles, including a race that features a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter and another featuring a police officer who battled the rioters that day. Maryland, West Virginia and Nebraska are holding primaries, and North Carolina is holding runoffs for races in which candidates didn’t win a majority of the vote in its March primaries. 

Trump’s endorsement is on the line in West Virginia, where he shaped the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. And Trump is sure to notch two endorsement wins in North Carolina, where two of his preferred House candidates are the only ones left standing. 

On the ballot tonight is a familiar face for those who watched the testimony during the House’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland’s 3rd District. A Jan. 6th rioter, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder, is posing a far-right challenge to congresswoman Carol Miller from West Virginia. 

Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET in West Virginia and North Carolina, 8 p.m. ET in Maryland and 9 p.m. ET in Nebraska. Here are four things to watch.

Caitlin Clark ahead of her WNBA debut: ‘Soak in the moment’

All eyes will be on Caitlin Clark this evening when the biggest star of women’s basketball makes her pro debut. Clark’s Indiana Fever takes on the Connecticut Sun, where a sold-out crowd (and a national television audience) will witness the start of a new era for women’s sports. No women’s basketball player had previously received the kind of attention and adulation as Clark, the two-time national player of the year out of Iowa and college basketball’s all-time leading scorer.

“This is what you’ve worked for and dreamed of, and now you get to put your jersey on for the first time and go out there and play. More than anything, just soak in the moment,” Clark told members of the media over the weekend.

The WNBA is hopeful that Clark’s star appeal will translate to the pros, and it seems some changes are already afoot . For the first time (and not so coincidentally), women’s teams will fly charter for all games. And Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league is eyeing a monster TV deal next year.

On the eve of Clark’s pro debut, Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement after 24 years leading the Hawkeyes.

Russian political shake-up hints at Putin’s true focus

The removal of Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defense minister is the most dramatic shake-up of the country’s military leadership since the war with Ukraine began more than two years ago. And, according to observers of the Kremlin, it shows that President Vladimir Putin is ready for a long fight with Ukraine and its Western allies.

Shoigu isn’t gone completely. He has been appointed secretary of Russia’s national security council, replacing another Putin ally who will be appointed to a new job that has yet to be announced. (Putin rarely fires people in his inner circle outright.) Replacing Shoigu will be 65-year-old Andrei Belousov, a civilian economist whose “unexpected but logical” appointment could offer insight into Putin’s war plans . With the war in its third year, the Kremlin needs to fully militarize not just Russian society, but also the country’s economy, analysts said.

Orcas sink yacht off Spain’s coast

An unknown number of orcas have sunk a yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service said yesterday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years. The vessel, Alboran Cognac, which measured 49 feet in length and was carrying two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, on Sunday, the service said.

Those on board reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started seeping into the ship. After they alerted the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar.

The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank. The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa, and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and northwestern Spain.

Woman recalls stage dive that left her severely injured

A 24-year-old woman is working to regain function in her fingers and toes after a singer’s stage dive at a punk rock concert left her severely injured. In an exclusive interview, Bird Piché detailed what she felt as Trophy Eyes frontman John Floreani leaped backward into the audience at the April 30 show — and onto Piché. “It was like his body and my neck,” she said. Her family said she was paralyzed when she went to the hospital but has since regained basic movements of her arms and legs. “I have a long road ahead, but I’m very optimistic right now,” Piché said. Read the full story here.

Politics in Brief 

Tax hikes for China:  President Joe Biden will announce today that his administration  is raising tariffs  on $18 billion of Chinese exports, including electric vehicles, a move that escalates what economists see as a volatile trade war in the U.S. and China’s race for supremacy. 

Abortion rights:  The Arizona Supreme Court  granted a request to delay enforcement  of the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, narrowing the window that the law could be enforced, if at all.

‘Forever chemicals’ vote: San Francisco is poised to vote tonight to become the first U.S. city to ban so-called “forever chemicals” in protective equipment for firefighters. Nearly all firefighters’ uniforms contain these chemicals despite their links to health problems.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening.  Subscribe here.

Staff Pick: Instead of poker, try ‘throwing eggs’

With American investment receding amid U.S.-China tensions, Chinese financial professionals are looking closer to home for business opportunities — and learning a homegrown card game favored by local government officials who hold the purse strings. Guandan, a four-person game that translates to “throwing eggs,” has eclipsed Texas Hold’em as the must-have social skill for those looking to close deals. NBC Asia Desk fellow Larissa Gao and intern Cheng Cheng  explore the rise of the game .

—  Jennifer Jett,  Asia digital editor

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Elizabeth Robinson is a newsletter editor for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.