A cast of characters that includes executioners, cheaters, stalkers, narcissists, persons incapable of love, grifters, and good old murderers
Noel McKay – Songs About Bad People – out on September 25
First single “The Midas Touch” out on 7/24
“Mingles wisdom and wit” – Glide
The story behind Songs About Bad People starts in France, where Noel holed up at his friend Eric Blakely’s Hippy IV studio in Chelles, France, outside of Paris, in 2023. It was on a travel whim, as he was exploring the idea of moving to Spain. He then finished it in Nashville in 2024 with Ben Sanders at Barnfire Studios. Featured guests on the album include French singer Arianna Monteverdi, Ken Coomer on drums from Wilco, and the well-sought-after Nashville session player Catherine Marx on piano. The eight-song collection will be released on September 25 on McKay Records, his second on his independent label.
Songs About Bad People is just that: cunning, debauchery, gambling, and moral ambiguity – starting with the “Artist of Death” – the town executioner- “The Pink Chandelier” – the wigged-out cheating couple – and, of course, the cocky SOB of “The Midas Touch.” The lyrics of these songs are the focal point as Noel dives into the dark seas of the human condition; one might smell cigars, mold, or bad blood before he sings a note.
“They’re loaded, he’s looking for the bottom, she’s completely numb and hates her life, and they hate each other.” – Noel McKay, behind the song – The Pink Chandelier
Each instrument is laced together, giving the songs integrity along with the harmony voice of Arianna Monteverdi, who is “the star of the record,” says Noel. The core players on the album, along with Noel on guitars and vocals, are Clyde Cervantes on bass and Aaron Goodrich on percussion in France. In Nashville, he tapped Mary Rogers for saxophone, Sam Bacco for vibraphone, and producer Ben Sanders for the string arrangements.
“In my mind, the guy in this song is the antagonist in every 1980s Brat Pack movie. Immaculately groomed, insouciant, spoiled, and untouchable.” – Noel McKay, behind the song – The Midas Touch
Noel has pulled his seat next to some songwriting giants like Guy Clark, David Olney, and Sunny Sweeney. His songwriting partners include Guy, Olney, and Becky Warren, and he has been regarded as one of the very best at his craft. A craft that has been molded and chiseled to perfection, overcoming any imperfections as he creates his musical sculptures.
“… fixating on someone who’s more of an idea to you than a real human being and endeavoring to meet them isn’t love, and it can have consequences.” – Noel McKay, behind the song, Strange California Days
“I was drawn to the work of María Maquieira to bring the visual side of Songs About Bad People to life because of the paintings she brought forth, which combine the beautiful and grotesque. She seems to currently be moving through a sort of amniotic period in her work, but she took a small break from that to paint the cover art for this record. I’m very happy and grateful that she wanted to participate, and I’m exponentially more proud to present Songs About Bad People because of its artwork,” states Noel.
She took Noel’s music and turned it into a visual storyline with images both mythical and allegorical, whether it’s an eye, a sun king face, or snakes. “One of the most beautiful things about illustrating is that each collaboration is different, and for Songs about Bad People, for the first time, I had to confront the portrait of the darkness of the human soul in such a palpable and direct way. Violence, density, but also beauty are the expressive codes I used to represent it,” she states. And all the other handwritten information was done by Noel himself.
Noel McKay was born in Corpus Christi, TX, and grew up in Bandera with various moves around the Lone Star state in between. From the age of 15, whether it was he and brother Hollin, or just him solo, he was always playing around town. He studied music in San Antonio, with a focus on music composition. By the time Noel was in his early twenties, while playing at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, he met Guy Clark and formed a mentorship and friendship that still resonates with Noel to this day, long after Clark’s death. After a long break from performing, Noel released his first solo album, Sketches Of South Central Texas, in 2011, and once again, he was back in the saddle. Around 2014, Guy Clark urged him to move to Nashville to immerse himself in the songwriter community, so he did, and he stayed there until he moved to Spain in 2023. Noel flourished in Music City, and in 2024, Nashville Scene music critic Edd Hurt selected him as 2024 Songwriter of the Year for their annual Best of Nashville List issue. Noel has released four solo albums over the years, starting with Is That So Much To Ask (2014), Sketches of South Central Texas (2015), Blue, Blue, Blue (2021), and You Only Live Always (2024), and now his fifth, Songs About Bad People, out in 2026.
Noel has shared the stage with the best of the best: David Olney, Sunny Sweeney, Guy Clark, JP Harris, and Whitney Rose. Some of the stages and venues over the years have been the 30A Songwriters Festival (South Walton Beach, FL), Opelika Songwriters Festival (Opelika, AL), Westport Bluegrass Festival (Ireland), Riquela Club (Spain), Huercasa Country Festival (Madrid), Hill Country BBQ (Washington, DC), Levon Helm Studios (Woodstock, NY), Gruene Hall (Austin, TX), and The Bluebird Café (Nashville, TN), and many more.
Press and radio have always been kind to Noel, media coverage from Texas Monthly, The Nashville Scene, Glide, Americana Highways, WMOT (Nashville), SiriusXM Satellite, KOOP (Austin), and WXPN in Philadelphia, PA, to his new home country of Spain, where he’s been featured in various magazines spotlighting the Texan. Words like “rust-dusted vocals [with] reflective and undeniably engaging songwriting” to mingling “wit and wisdom” have been used to describe Noel’s songs.
Songs About Bad People is Noel McKay’s deep expansion into a more noir world, telling dark-rimmed storylines from the town’s hit man to the floozy outliers to the expensive cheaters – this is an album of a dirty underbelly world.
Timeless. Majestic. Classic. Great. People.
