The Doobie Brothers in 2025: A tour, a new album and a date with Songwriters Hall of Fame
It's not just that soulful blast from Michael McDonald, marking his first time recording with the band in 45 years. Listen and you'll also hear founding member Pat Simmons and original vocalist Tom Johnston.
'Walk This Road' — with the always-welcome addition of Mavis Staples — is a horn-and-slide-guitar slice of bluesy, wailing rock that's also a celebration of a band that has endured changes and re-formed with members now in their 70s.
'Somehow, here we are,' says McDonald. 'We've been friends throughout the years. Our kids have all grown up together and our kids have kind of kept us in contact even at times when we might have dropped off the radar for each other.'
Lots of Doobie activity
The Doobie Brothers, who formed in 1970 and initially broke up in 1982, have a packed 2025 planned: A European tour that leads to a North American one, the strong new album and inclusion in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
'I don't think any of us ever even really thought we'd still be on stage at this age doing this, much less together,' says McDonald. 'That we're still able to express ourselves artistically is something that's not lost on us.'
The North American tour kicks off in Detroit on Aug. 4 and heads to such cities as New York, Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Toronto. The opening act will be The Coral Reefer Band.
'Walk This Road' features 10 new songs sung by McDonald, Simmons and Johnston, who collaborated on writing the tracks and play on each other's tunes. Longtime collaborator John McFee also returned for the project.
The album, out June 6, has something for everyone — honky-tonk, driving country, flirty Southern pop, moody folk and melodic rock. There are songs about New Orleans and Hawaii. Angels make the lyrics on two songs.
'One of the strengths of our live show was the fact that you couldn't get bored with any one style of music because everything was kind of a different bag,' says McDonald, who officially reunited with the band on tour in 2019. 'We like to do that. You know, I think this album is hopefully no different in that respect.'
John Shanks, who produced the band's 2021 album 'Liberté,' returned for 'Walk This Road,' lending them his Los Angeles studio, with a writing room upstairs and a recording booth downstairs where each songwriter took turns cutting tracks.
'The band, I think, presents all of us with an opportunity to do things that we might not do just as individual songwriters,' says McDonald.
Inside the album
While the Doobies have never been a concept band, the album explores seizing the moments, reflects on paths taken and coming to grips with the past.
'This is a snapshot in time of where the band is and where the writers are,' says Johnston. 'We didn't consciously sit down and say, 'Well, we're going to try and do this.''
One track, 'Learn to Let Go,' is an unrequited love song that's about letting go of things that hold you back, while 'Speed of Pain' is about how the worst things in life can become the best.
'In many cases, it's just a situation where you have to lose it all. I can't tell you how many people I've met over the years who have told me that going to jail was the best thing that ever happened to them,' says McDonald. 'I think total defeat in this world is the great teacher.'
The Doobie Brothers are already members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — with tracks like 'Takin' It To the Streets,' 'What a Fool Believes' and 'Minute By Minute' — but shortly after the album comes out, they'll be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
'I think it's really great for this band,' says Johnston. 'I think it's great for us as individual writers, but I think it's also great for the group, and it kind of carries on the name, if you will.'
McDonald and Johnston both expressed a little surprise that they're still making music with the folks they worked with in their 20s and are still a draw on the road.
'It's just fun to visit all these places musically. It's fun to put that out in front of the crowd live. And to do an album now — I didn't picture doing this, but I'm all for it,' Johnston says.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Minnesota State Fair butter sculpture tradition has dairy princesses bundling up in the summer
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — It was a warm summer day but Malorie Thorson was dressed for winter as Gerry Kulzer sculpted a likeness of her head from a large block of butter Thursday in keeping with a 60-year-old tradition on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair. Thorson, a 20-year-old from the town of Waverly, was crowned as the 72nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way on Wednesday night. And her first official duty as the goodwill ambassador for the state's 1,800 dairy farm families was to bundle up and sit in a rotating glassed-in studio at 40 degrees F (4 Celsius) as fairgoers gathered to watch Kulzer turn a 90-pound (41-kilogram) block of salted butter into art. Other state fairs also feature butter sculptures. The Iowa State Fair has been famous for its life-sized Butter Cow for over a century. A replica will be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Renwick Gallery in Washington starting Saturday. The 2025 New York State Fair butter sculpture, unveiled Tuesday, is a 900-pound (410-kilogram) nod to the 125th anniversary of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' by New York state native L. Frank Baum. But in Minnesota, all 10 of the dairy princess finalists get a likeness of their heads carved before an ever-changing live audience. Each one gets to take their sculpture home after the fair, along with a bucket of the scraps. They can deep-freeze their heads as souvenirs or share them with family and friends, maybe spreading some of the butter onto corn on the cob. Wearing her tiara on her head, her sash over her overcoat and her gloves folded on her lap, Thorson said she loved the break from the nearly 80 degree (27 Celsius) heat outside. But she added it was an 'unreal experience' to find herself at the center of attention because her mother had been taking her to the fair and its dairy stands since she was at least 3. She said her mother had been a Princess Kay finalist in 1996. Thorson expressed confidence that Kulzer would do her justice. 'I have so much faith in him. I usually don't have as much faith in a lot of people because I like to be in control sometimes," the South Dakota State University student said. "So it's really nice to just sit back, relax and know that he's going to do a great job.' It's Kulzer's fourth year as the fair's official butter sculptor. The artist, who usually sculpts with clay, said butter is different, that it's harder, more like carving stone. 'The temperature makes a huge difference," he said during a warm-up break. 'If you are working at a 50-degree temperature, it's just like clay. In the 40 degrees here, it's just like from your refrigerator. So you cut a knife into your stick of butter, it's like it's hard and flaky.' But Kulzer said his state fair gig is 'super fun' even though it's a little hard working in the cold. 'My fingers get a little stiff, and so I've got two layers on my hands. But you can't layer up too much because you still need the dexterity to carve,' he said. 'My fingers were cramping up because they were getting cold, so you take a break when you need it.'
Hypebeast
2 hours ago
- Hypebeast
Giorgio Armani Designs Formal Uniforms For Italy's Juventus F.C.
Giorgio Armanihas offered a sneak peek at the formalwear collection it has designed for Italy'sJuventus Italian fashion and sports heritage, the wardrobe capsule consists of hybrid suit numbers for the team's official off-pitch occasions. In a press release, the company said, 'The wardrobe, designed for all national and European competitions, strike a balance between sartorial sophistication and contemporary comfort, with fluid lines, refined detailing, premium materials and a palette centred on the iconic midnight blue that defines the Giorgio Armani style. During the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 seasons, Armani will provide crêpe and water-repellent cashmere suits styled with overshirts, as well as an assortment of soft trousers, T-shirts, polos, and rollnecks in crafted in light wool. The suits, which fuse casual and formal sensibilities, boast fully deconstructed jackets and relaxed trousers, meant to be styled with viscose polos and tees. The midnight-blue suit, intended for more formal occasions, is worn with a white shirt and a jacquard-logo tie. Armani fills the shoes ofLoro Piana, who designed the team's formalwear during the 2022-23 season. However, the brand's connection to Italian football culture didn't start today. Giorgio Armani locked his first football partnership in during the 1994 World Cup and later outfitted the Italian national soccer team during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. The news comes as the luxury label prepares to host several shows duringMilan Fashion Week. On September 28 at 7 pm, Armani will celebrate its 50th anniversary on an evening runway at Palazzo Brera, preceded by two Emporio Armani shows on September 25. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest fashion industry insights.
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Oasis mania begins as L.A. fans descend on the band's Hollywood pop-up shop
With just weeks to go before Oasis storms the Rose Bowl for two sold-out shows in September — its first Los Angeles concerts in 15 years— anticipation reached a fever pitch in Hollywood on Wednesday morning. By 8 a.m., fans were lined up outside the W Hotel, home to the band's debut North American Oasis Live '25 pop-up shop full of exclusive merch. Some wore old Oasis T-shirts, while others planned outfits around purchases they were soon to make. For a band whose history in Los Angeles stretches from catastrophic to triumphant, the pop-up's Hollywood setting feels intentional. The shop sits across the street from Amoeba Music, a stone's throw from the iconic Capitol Records Building, where Oasis recorded sessions in its legendary studios for the 2005 album 'Don't Believe the Truth,' and just blocks from the Palace (now Avalon), where it performed in 1995. When fans were finally welcomed inside at 10 a.m., it felt less like a store opening and more like a pilgrimage. This certainly wasn't retail therapy to chase away a bad mood. It was very much the opposite, with fans brimming with joy, eager to get first dibs on the collection. As Oasis tunes poured from the speakers, the space blended past and present, along with exclusivity. Lining the shelves were special-edition colored vinyl formats, including mint green copies of 'Definitely Maybe,' the band's supersonic 1994 debut album, and burnt yellow pressings of 'What's the Story (Morning Glory?),' the record that gave the world 'Champagne Supernova,' 'Don't Look Back in Anger' and 'Wonderwall.' 'Wonderwall was my yearbook quote in high school,' said Oasis fan Billy Horn, wearing a decade-old Oasis T-shirt and clutching a white 'Heathen Chemistry' vinyl to add to his record collection. Most shoppers left with armloads of items, including T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts and those much-coveted Liam-style bucket hats, with prices typically ranging from $45 to $100. Some fans were already wearing their purchases before checking out. The extensive merch collection also includes tote bags, coffee mugs, keychains and jigsaw puzzles. Some dedicated fans made a road trip to check out the shop. Jennifer Wyatt and Joanne Manahan drove up from San Diego and plan to make the trek again for both Rose Bowl shows. For Wyatt, these will be her first-ever Oasis concerts. 'Growing up in the early '90s, Oasis is all I listened to,' she said, before explaining why she never saw them during their original run. 'I thought I had time to see them, and figured they'd be around forever.' Now, she's planning her outfit around the burgundy Oasis Adidas jacket she's purchasing, finally getting the chance to see the band she grew up loving. Among shop-goers, Oasis' Adidas collaboration is a major draw. Fans eagerly explored the merchandise, immediately assembling outfits from head to toe and checking themselves out in the full-length mirrors scattered around the store. After a career marked by a meteoric rise, legendary spats, a celebrated breakup and a globally acclaimed reunion, Oasis has certainly earned its rock-and-roll stripes, making the partnership with Adidas feel especially fitting. One fan who especially embodied the Oasis-Adidas crossover was Shane Yamada. Not only did he attend one of the Wembley reunion shows, and secure tickets to both Rose Bowl dates, but he was also sporting an Adidas tattoo. He was shopping with his wife Jewel and their 2-year-old daughter Paisley, for whom he's buying Oasis children's gear, a sweatshirt and T-shirt. There's a certain irony in the famously feuding Gallagher brothers selling clothing for the whole family, including Oasis onesies for babies. Yet Oasis' cross-generational appeal was on full display at the pop-up. At the older end of the spectrum, longtime Oasis devotee Jeff Zoleta brought his 78-year-old mother Nila, who became a fan through her sons' love of the band. She was buying two bucket hats and a tote bag for herself. Fans' enthusiasm about the merchandise naturally spilled over into the rest of the pop-up, designed to fully immerse customers in Oasis' universe. At a 'Definitely Maybe' backdrop, shoppers can pose for photos, with some even lying on the ground to mimic Liam's position on the album cover. Digital maps in the store chronicle the band's history. Click on a city and every local show appeared, including Oasis' infamous inaugural Los Angeles performance in 1994 at the Whisky a Go Go — a substance-fueled disaster defined by technical difficulties, clashing set lists and Liam launching a tambourine at Noel, who temporarily quit and fled to San Francisco. 'They rolled in f— up beyond belief,' Mikeal Maglieri Jr., the Whisky's owner who was 15 at the time, recalls over the phone. 'By the time the show happened, they were falling apart. They started the wrong song multiple times … one guy was playing one thing while the others were playing something else. … It was definitely a nightmare of a show.' Yet Oasis more than made up for its chaotic Los Angeles debut, returning repeatedly to the city and filling ever-larger venues until the final Staples Center show in 2008. The following year, the band imploded when Noel walked out on Aug. 28, following a backstage fight with Liam at a music festival just outside Paris, departing just before their scheduled headlining slot. 'I was devastated when they broke up. I thought maybe they would just fight and get back together in a year or two. I didn't know it was going to take 15 years,' said Danny Winebarger, who attended one of the band's recent Manchester shows and also has Rose Bowl tickets. He came to the pop-up on the hunt for a football shirt that had sold out in his size at Oasis' U.K. shops. Stories like Winebarger's illustrate a devotion that spans decades, and an enduring passion that's echoed by everyone who entered the shop. Roy Kim, a self-described 'superfan' who has seen Oasis in concert at least half a dozen times, reflected on the British rockers' enduring appeal: 'There's a timeless quality about their music. It really reaches into the heart of humanity and the human condition. There's something for everyone.' Beyond the discography, Kim said he has long-admired Oasis' brazen attitude. That trademark boldness was on full display when the band announced U.S. tour dates: 'America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along.' The response was immediate. Tickets for the concerts sold out within an hour. That same excitement now filled the Hollywood pop-up, with fans buzzing as if the band were just about to take the stage. With just over two weeks before full Oasis mania descends on Los Angeles, if this warm-up act is any indication, September's sure to be electric.
