Antsy McClain is hilarious. He is also insightful and heartwarming.
Whether he’s performing solo or with his incredible band of musicians called the Trailer Park Troubadours, Antsy McClain will have you “laughing til your cheeks are sore,” and tearing up over “the good stuff:” love, family and friends.
As a songwriter, Antsy wants to touch the every emotion. “I love to make people laugh – if we can laugh, we can heal – and that will always be a big part of my shows. But without something deeper, it’s just a superficial cartoon: me with the big hair, plaid pants and funky clothes, the band with their antics. We have a good time up there, but we want to leave you with tears in your eyes from laughing and from recognizing life is short so enjoy the ride.”
Antsy calls what he does “humor with heart.” Funny without ridicule. Sentimental without saccharine.
The friends of Antsy’s music (more than 20 albums to date) call themselves Flamingoheads, after the iconic plastic figurines that have adorned trailer park lawns for decades. They are a caring bunch of people who call themselves cousins, per Antsy’s wishes on social media to not only “friend” him, but “cousin” him, as this all seems too much like family to use any other word. “I am confident that I have more cousins than anyone on Facebook,” Antsy recalls with a smile, “Last count it was in the hundreds. That’s a big family. I’m a lucky man.”
The backdrop for these characters and stories is the semi-fictional mobile home community called Pine View Heights. It was designed after his own upbringing in several trailer parks where he lived with his blue collar family, raised by a truck-driving father and an Avon-selling Mom. “You can’t make this stuff up,” Antsy recalls, “It’s like The Blues. You gotta live it.” And live it, he does, honoring those who mentored him with grace and dignity, albeit exposing the foibles and occasional scar tissue that makes us all unique and endearing.
When asked if there are common threads that run through his music, Antsy answers in the affirmative: “Don’t clutter up your life with stuff that doesn’t matter. Hug your loved ones. Appreciate each moment. Use your powers for good. I’ve been writing that same theme paper for years and setting it to music.”
Antsy McClain’s music covers the emotional range his fans have come to expect from this wildly creative and diverse songwriter.
It’s this kind of literary duality – superficial scar tissue on the one hand, but a deep and heartfelt declaration of love and devotion on the other – that draws new fans to Antsy’s music and creates a well-deserved place as one of America’s most poignant writers and performers alive today.
Called a Renaissance Man by his peers (Antsy is also a graphic designer and illustrator, working with a who’s who client list consisting of The Atlantic Monthly, Simon & Schuster, Newsweek, Psychology Today among countless others.), Antsy has embraced the life of an artist, saying he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“In my earliest memories, I knew I was different, weird, a misfit. But I had the love and support of some very dear people. Mom and Dad, and later a devoted stepfather. Teachers. They encouraged me, and allowed me to be weird, to embrace being different. And that – even today – that continues to make all the difference.
“I think I may have said this before,” Antsy says with a wry smile, “But I’m a lucky man.”
An animated series based on the characters and stories of Antsy’s music is currently in development. “Way Cool World” is a series based on the world of Pine View Heights, “the trailer park that time forgot.” Antsy has been collaborating with longtime friend, screenwriter and author James Dalessandro on the project. More details on the animated Way Cool World can be found HERE.
Videos of Antsy McClain for your viewing pleasure.
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