Cheers and Happy National Beer Day!

To celebrate the day, we are pleased to announce the release of our new single and video for “Beer Break”

Video Link: https://youtu.be/tQJkQlDfBuc

"Beer Break"
Don McAvoy & The Great Whatever ®
Song: © 2010, Don McAvoy (ASCAP), (P) 2025, McAvoy Music Productions, Inc. (ASCAP)
Video: © 2026, McAvoy Music Productions, Inc. & Marc Arot
Video Editor: Richard, Eguhaan Edwin (Rixel)
WWW.DMCGW.COM

Picture the worst place you ever worked…

This is a story about Jack. Jack Everyman. Jack works at a place called The Company – “where they do more with less!” … Jack’s reward for working hard? MORE WORK! One day Jack is at his cubicle and looks out the window to see the smokers taking ANOTHER smoke break. He starts to daydream about his situation…

Did you ever notice that smokers are some of the most informed people at a job??? – They seem to get a fair share of breaks and time to catch up on company goings-on …As I recall, my younger son was always trying to escape his crib, while my older son was trying to escape his parents (who can blame him/them – especially escaping me, as their father – ha ,ha), while I had to rush to the fridge (medicinal purposes only), to secure all of us - 😊 - This one is included in our songsical…(to be continued)… I wrote this one initially on 3 different pianos.. - Wow, what can I say but this tune took up 109+ tracks (our most – so far), Pre-Covid, Covid and Post- Covid with Joe Stout very patiently trying to capture what Marc and I envisioned…(We used so many microphones and noncustomary instruments and approaches.)..My hat’s off to my brother from another mother, Marc Arot, – for all of your patience and understanding during the challenges of this one…Truly, this was one of the most entertaining times for me in the studio, time and again…Another great memory was cutting the band section live with Marc Arot, Jim Walsh and my brother, Mike McAvoy…God bless you, all and thank you always…dmc

Video Link - https://youtu.be/i88qgZ1fx-8

"Sorry On You" by Don McAvoy & The Great Whatever ®
Song: © 2004, Don McAvoy (ASCAP), (P) 2025, McAvoy Music Productions, Inc.
Video © 2025 – McAvoy Music Productions, Inc. (ASCAP)
Video Editor: Jules Knight (Goliath Post)
WWW.DMCGW.COM

(DISCLAIMER – Title credits on actual video shows © 2023 and (P) 2003 which is an error that we are unable to correct on the actual video - © and (P) should both read 2025)

Story of the Song…
Here’s one that I wrote in 2004, then we started recording it in 2011 and for Whatever reason – see what I did there??? - finished it in 2025! …We frequently feature it in our live sets and really like playing it…I’m not exactly sure why I wrote it - but today I’m glad that I did as it is a tune that attempts to dispel toxicity…We hope you that you enjoy the song and wish you sincere good luck in ridding yourself of any toxicness in your life…dmc…

Video Link - https://youtu.be/rtlQSGPHYfE

"Fight, Fight, Philly, Fight (aka Go, Go, Philly”)" by Don McAvoy & The Great Whatever ®

Dear Folks – Happy Spring 2025!

As the Philadelphia Phillies embark on a successful new season today and to celebrate the Eagles’ great Super Bowl 59 win – and of course, to root for the Union, Flyers, and Sixers current seasons…

Our New Song and Video - "Fight, Fight, Philly, Fight (aka “Go, Go, Philly”)" - is our ode to cheer on our amazing city of Philadelphia in BOTH the sports realm and all else that is “Philly” …

Story of the Song…
So a little while back a good buddy of mine [Anthony Re] asked me [and I was quite humbled] to write about Philly {and its sports teams} – and then I added thoughts of growing up there, it’s great attributes, foods, locales, etc. …
Fortunately, great singers, like Grace Torna, Doctor Tom Lopez and Jeff Chapman, AND the awesome talents of Ken Battista, Marc Arot and Joe Stout, in their virtuosity as musicians, engineers and singers made this lofty dream/song a reality…

“Hometown Hero” is a song that honors the memory of our friend, mentor and Hometown Hero - Mark Melvin (and his father Bill Melvin) and ALL other Hometown Heroes such as (but not limited to) police, fire, military and emergency personnel, clergy, teachers, single parents, and many others who have impacted our lives.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/wPH0D1-Ihas

ABOUT THE SONG... ♫♫ This is the first tune I wrote on the 10-String Puerto Rican Cuatro. This one was written to honor and thank Mark for his very important impact on my life, of which I can’t forget and am eternally grateful. He was/is such a great example to so many and lives on in all of our hearts and memories! Perhaps by Divine intervention, during the recording of this one, my father handed me a cassette, with my brother Mike interviewing Mr. Melvin for a college project. (Thank you, Mike & Dad!) I thought it would be so great to be able to feature Mark’s dad’s voice (posthumously) on a song about his son. And I felt it only appropriate that Mark’s father should have the last words…Modestly, I love the fragility, accessibility and vulnerability of this song and I thank Marc, John, Ryan, Mike and Jim for all of their time and talent in helping me bring this one to fruition. A very special thanks to my mom, Katherine “Special Kay” McAvoy for encouraging me to send the song’s lyrics to Mark some years back. Special thanks #2 goes to Ryan Kelly for all of his patience and tirelessness in crafting this one with me and trying to capture the vocals/instrumentation to resemble the different periods of time that Mark and I went through. Special thanks #3 to Patricia Lee for gifting me with a great keyboard that I used on the middle part of the song…

We also sing this one to honor other hometown heroes such as (but not limited to) police, fire, military and emergency personnel, clergy, teachers and single parents… Please consider thanking your hometown heroes; it may be something that they really need to hear during their evolving journey…Thank you. dmc

"There's Time Between The Bridge & The Water" contains (23) well written and well produced original songs, in varied genres. The songs are a mixture of many different styles, tempos and instrumentations that appeal to all ages and musical tastes. Since most people flip from station to station when listening to the radio in their cars, this CD captures that need for the variety and melody that people are longing for and seem to find rare in this era where most music sounds the same.

Video Links From This Release:
- New Shoes: https://youtu.be/a5ddiWbNik0?si=Pg6ii8TMW7xKQfyO
- Yuengling: https://youtu.be/5EpiKqPDql4?si=MsBDv2DGECgXBEM6
- Happy Friday: https://youtu.be/ST8dnFa8U8Y?si=SaKFqqKdudVfoYqy
- I Gotta Dog: https://youtu.be/lQPNMtNQqTQ?si=ypfdeAZF50zK7DG3

Our Debut Double CD Released in 1996! 27 Songs!

This release was a 27-song epic that displayed Don's ability to write songs prolifically and in a wide variety of styles and his band’s versatility to perform them. Many of these songs remain in our repertoire to this day!

The album produced two radio hits in Belarus, Russia - “Like it Like That” and “All She Wants Is Just to be Happy”. “Like it Like That” was also featured as the MP3 Song of the Week on Web Entertainment Awards and the band was also named as one of its TOP 5 Independent Bands on this site. “For The Want Of Money” was featured in the Syndicated TV Series “Rosarito Weekend” in episode #7. “At Third Base And Heading For Home” was used as the theme song for the minor league baseball team the St. Catherine Blue Jays. While the band was touring for this CD, Canadian music star, Kim Mitchell, personally selected the band to open for him in a 4,000 seat arena (see the converted VHS concert footage here: (https://youtu.be/kYPmNjUkEdA) . This CD was also named a top 5 CD by Out On The Town Magazine.

The first music video we ever made was for “Like It Like That” and it is on our You Tube page: https://youtu.be/EU74oMBINr0. On the 25th Anniversary of the CD - we released a video for the song "X" which incorporated footage from the converted VHS concert video. The link to video for "X" is here: https://youtu.be/Ilp3Euraxhc?si=RLJkkG3Hm6C0USRx

Our Second CD - (4) novelty tunes released in 1998

“Peace, Love and Scrapple” yielded a top ten hit on MP3.com (Nov. 1999 – Holiday Music Chart) for the song “Best Little Christmas” performed with vocal greats The Encounters. Texas music producer Phil York calls this song a “future American classic”, and WSNI 104.5 FM in Philadelphia continues to play this song in their holiday rotation. This song was also included on Volunteer Records “Holiday Heart” compilation in 2005. The song “Strike (On Strike)” was used as a rally cry for striking Red Cross workers. This release also earned the band a regional Mid Atlantic hit with “Scrapple”. A song about certain breakfast meat indigenous to the region.

Video Links From This Release:
- Scrapple: https://youtu.be/T_UXCJXi4iw