Paul McDonald (musician) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Paul McDonald is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

from Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

, who as of 2011 resides in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. McDonald placed 8th on the tenth season

American Idol (season 10)

The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...

of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

and since 2005, he has been the lead singer of the band Hightide Blues, renamed The Grand Magnolias in 2010.

Early life

McDonald was born to Susan and David McDonald was born in Auburn/Opelika. His father is a clinical psychologist and his mother teaches occupational therapy at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. McDonald was raised in Huntsville, Alabama. He is a graduate of Huntsville High School, where he also played wide receiver on the varsity football team, and he was in the school's play, "The Wizard of Oz", directed by Mike Chappell.

McDonald attended Auburn University

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

and was a member of the Alpha Upsilon chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta

Phi Gamma Delta

The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...

fraternity. McDonald graduated with s sociology degree.

Hightide Blues

In the spring of 2005, he and fellow Auburn student Jonathan Pears began writing songs together, forming the band Hightide Blues. Adding two other members, Cragon Sims and Scott Rollins, they began touring small clubs around the state of Alabama. In 2006, McDonald put his education on hold to pursue a full-time career in music. After a limited edition self-titled EP Hightide Blues in 2007, the band released in 2008 a self-produced album, Love Come Easy, which was recorded in an old boarding school turned recording studio, operated by David Briggs, called the House of David in Nashville, Tennessee. The album garnered radio play from the songs "Dreamin' Alone" and "Let It Roll". Also included was a song called "Dancing with the Angels (Meg's Song)". McDonald wrote this song the night before the funeral of a very close friend to the band, Meg Ingram, who passed away from cancer at the age of 21. The band performs annually at the Meg Ingram Memorial Scholarship benefit concert in Huntsville.

Hightide Blues has also had success on the Internet, winning multiple awards on OurStage.com including over 15 Top 10 placements, as well as reaching number 2 on Best of Pop for 2011. From 2007 to 2010, the band continued touring around the country, performing with musicians such as the Zac Brown Band

Zac Brown Band

Zac Brown Band is an American country music, southern rock, and folk band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown , Jimmy De Martini , John Driskell Hopkins , Coy Bowles , Chris Fryar and Clay Cook...

, Sarah Bareilles, and JJ Grey and Mofro. Hightide Blues also played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Florida Music Festival, the Hangout Festival, and the Lynyrd Skynrd Simple Man Cruise. Between 2007 and 2010, Hightide Blues averaged around 150-200 shows per year.

The Grand Magnolias

In August 2010, McDonald and his band members moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and launched a campaign to let their fans choose a new name for the band. The group's first album under its new name, entitled The Grand Magnolias, was released in 2011. The songs were written by McDonald and band member Jonathan Pears and produced by Dan Hannon and Ken Coomer. The album has seen a boost in sales since Paul McDonald’s appearance on American Idol, and it reached #12 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and had sold 9,000 copies by April 27, 2011. iTunes pulled the album from its store, without explanation, and the sales dropped off 60% from the previous week. A week later the album returned, again without explanation.

When the band learned that McDonald had made it through to the Hollywood round they put together a content release campaign to maximize the exposure from the show.

American Idol

On January 27, 2011, McDonald received a golden ticket to compete in Hollywood from judges Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...

, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

and Randy Jackson

Randy Jackson

Randall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...

, and made it into the Top 24 by singing an original song, "American Dreams." He was one of ten candidates chosen as a finalist based on public voting. Thirteen competed in the finals.

Since entering the competition, McDonald has made use of the social networking site Twitter to communicate with his fans and promote his band, The Grand Magnolias. Due to McDonald’s prolific use of Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

and other social media he propelled his band’s debut album “The Grand Magnolias” to #3 on the iTunes Rock Albums chart, and #43 on the overall iTunes Albums chart. The album also debuted on the Billboard Heatseekers chart before McDonald even sang in the show’s semi-final round. He was also the first 2011 Idol hopeful to reach 50,000 followers on his newly created official American Idol Twitter account. McDonald continues to be one of the most popular American Idol Season 10 competitors on the social networking site. After meeting her at the premier of Red Riding Hood, it was revealed that McDonald was dating actress Nikki Reed

Nikki Reed

Nicole Houston "Nikki" Reed is an American film and television actress, and screenwriter. She became known in 2003, after the release of the film Thirteen, for which she co-wrote the screenplay. Reed has since appeared in several films, including Lords of Dogtown and Mini's First Time...

. On June 5, 2011, the couple announced their engagement. They were married on October 16, 2011.

McDonald was eliminated from the show on April 14, 2011, with a finish of 8th place.

Performances/Results

Episode	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Order #	Result
Audition	Auditioner's Choice	"Tutti Frutti Tutti Frutti (song) "Tutti Frutti" is a 1955 song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bop-bop!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the... "	Little Richard Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...	N/A	Advanced
Audition	Auditioner's Choice	"Maggie May Maggie May "Maggie May" is a song written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton and recorded by Stewart in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells a Story.... "	Rod Stewart Rod Stewart Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 1	First Solo	N/A	Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is an American rock band from Waitsfield, Vermont.-Career:Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' lead vocalist is multi-instrumentalist Grace Potter, who attended St. Lawrence University for two years before pursuing music professionally...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 2	Group Performance	"Carry On Wayward Son Carry On Wayward Son "Carry on Wayward Son" is a progressive rock single recorded by Kansas and written by Kerry Livgren for their 1976 album Leftoverture. In 1977, the song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard pop singles chart, becoming their first Top 40 hit.... "	Kansas Kansas (band) Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 3	Second Solo	"Landslide Landslide (song) The country group Dixie Chicks then covered "Landslide" on their 2002 Home album. This rendition, featuring the group's trademark two- and three-part harmonies reached the Top 10 of both the pop and country charts as well as several other charts. It became the Dixie Chicks' only number 1 single ... "	Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...	N/A	Advanced
Las Vegas Round	Songs of The Beatles Group Performance	"Blackbird Blackbird (song) "Blackbird" is a Beatles song from the double-disc album The Beatles . Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Origins:... "	The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round Final	Final Solo	"American Dreams"	The Grand Magnolias	N/A	Advanced
Top 24 (12 Men)	Personal Choice	"Maggie May Maggie May "Maggie May" is a song written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton and recorded by Stewart in 1971 for his album Every Picture Tells a Story.... "	Rod Stewart	10	Advanced
Top 13	Your Personal Idol	"Come Pick Me Up"	Ryan Adams Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...	4	Safe
Top 12	Year You Were Born	"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is a song by British singer Elton John featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica... "	Elton John Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...	2	Safe
Top 11	Motown	"The Tracks of My Tears The Tracks of My Tears "The Tracks of My Tears" is a much recorded love ballad introduced in 1965 by The Miracles on Motown's' Tamla label. This song is considered to be among the finest recordings of The Miracles, and it sold over one million records within two years, making it The Miracles' fourth million-selling... "	The Miracles The Miracles The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...	9	Safe
Top 11	Elton John Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...	"Rocket Man"	Elton John	3	Bottom 3
Top 9	Rock & Roll Hall of Fame	"Folsom Prison Blues Folsom Prison Blues "Folsom Prison Blues" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Johnny Cash. The song combines elements from two popular folk genres, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash would continue to use for the rest of his career... "	Johnny Cash Johnny Cash John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...	9	Safe
Top 8	Songs from the Movies	"Old Time Rock and Roll Old Time Rock and Roll "Old Time Rock and Roll" is the title of a song by Bob Seger featured on his 1978 album Stranger in Town and released as a single in 1979. It is a nostalgic look at the music of a previous generation. The song was featured in the Tom Cruise film Risky Business and gained widespread fame because of... " — Risky Business Risky Business Risky Business is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The hit film launched Cruise to stardom.-Plot:...	Bob Seger Bob Seger Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...	1	Eliminated

Due to the judges using their one save to save Casey Abrams
Casey Abrams
Casey Abrams is an American musician from Idyllwild, California who finished in sixth place on the tenth season of American Idol. He was eliminated from the competition on April 28, 2011, five weeks after being saved from elimination by the judges.-Early life:Abrams was born on February 12, 1991...

, the Top 11 remained intact for another week, when two contestants were eliminated.

Post-Idol

McDonald was one of the 11 performers in the 2011 American Idols Live Tour, which began in West Valley City, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, on July 6, 2011, and ended in Rochester

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, on September 10, 2011. On May 25, 2011 he appeared on The Rachael Ray Show along with Stefano Langone

Stefano Langone

Stefano Langone is an American singer from Kent, Washington. Langone placed seventh on the tenth season of American Idol.-Early life:...

and Pia Toscano

Pia Toscano

Pia Ann Rose Toscano is an American singer from Howard Beach, New York. Toscano placed ninth on the tenth season of American Idol. Considered to be a frontrunner in the competition, her elimination came as a shock to judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler, all of whom were visibly...

. McDonald even recorded a song, "Now That I've Found You", with his wife Nikki Reed, which debuted on Ryan Seacrest's radio show on November 15, 2011. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/nikki-reed-husband-paul-mcdonald-duet-song-i-found-article-1.977896

Personal life

McDonald met Nikki Reed

Nikki Reed

on the red carpet at the premiere of Red Riding Hood in March 2011. The moment they met was broadcast on an American Idol episode as part of a segment that showed the contestants attending the premiere. The pair soon began dating, and moved in together not long after. At the MTV Movie Awards on June 5, 2011, Reed was photographed wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring. Marc Malkin of E!

E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...

claimed on his blog that the couple was engaged, though no official announcement has been made on behalf of Reed or McDonald. In June 2011, McDonald confirmed in an interview that they are engaged and that planning was underway for the wedding. The couple were married on 16 October 2011.

Albums

As part of Hightide Blues

2007: Hightide Blues (EP) http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hightide-blues-ep/id264057518
- Tracklist of Hightide Blues EP:

"I Can't" (4:09)
"4:15" (3:24)
"Will She" (3:02)
"Tired of Leavin'" (5:16)
"Jennifer" (4:54)

2008: Love Come Easy http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-come-easy/id282491965
- Tracklist of Love Come Easy album:

"Katie, Can You Hear Me?" (3:10)
"Far from Home" (4:59)
"Dreamin' Alone" (3:52)
"Let It Roll" (3:13)
"Giving Up On You" (3:57)
"Merle's Last Stand" (2:05)
"Black Crows" (4:30)
"Dancing with the Angels (Meg's Song)" (4:29)

As part of The Grand Magnolias

2010: The Grand Magnolias http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-grand-magnolias/id401745466
- Tracklist of The Grand Magnolias album:

"Sing Out" (4:07)
"American Dreams" (3:46)
"Fly Me to the Moon" (3:27)
"I Can't Remember" (3:14)
"No More One More Nights" (3:51)
"Heartbreak" (5:01)
"Four Fifteen" (5:06)
"Whoa" (4:22)
"Top of the World" (3:11)
"Please Believe Me" (4:08)

Year	Album details	Peak	Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold)
Year	Album details	US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
2011	*The Grand Magnolias* Released: 2011 Label: Independent Format: CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , self released	12	US: 9,000
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

External links

Paul McDonald on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
Paul McDonald Official website
The Grand Magnolias Official website

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