Morgantown, W.Va. — Singer-Songwriter Don McLean brings his show to Morgantown on Saturday night. It’s a show that, he says, will be about what’s on his mind.
“How my mind strings together the songs I’ve written from the 30-some albums I’ve made and, also, just how the musical trip is going to take place, because it’s different every night,” said McLean.
McLean was a guest on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline” ahead of a scheduled Saturday night performance at West Virginia University’s Creative Arts Center in Morgantown.
At that show, like every show, he says there will be no set list. “Some people like to know what’s going to follow but, with me, they don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.
McLean has been on the road since recording his first album, “Tapestry,” in Berkeley, Ca. in 1969. He became an international star with the release of “American Pie” in 1971.
The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts lists “American Pie” as one of the top five “Songs of the Century” behind “Over the Rainbow,” “White Christmas,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “Respect.”
McLean says, throughout his career, he has always tried to have goals, not just dreams.
“I think a lot of Americans are dreaming,” he said. “We sit around and we have the so-called ‘American Dream’ and I just don’t think you want to be dreaming. I think you want to be planning.”
When he is not on the road, McLean is at home in Maine with his wife and two children.
Tickets are still available through Ticketmaster for McLean’s Morgantown show. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.