Trop Rocker John McDonald and Novelist Chip Bell Team Up Again for ‘Southern Cross’

Singer-songwriter John McDonald entertained Pittsburgh audiences with his brand of trop rock songs for several decades. As a solo artist, and with his backing musicians, The Mango Men, McDonald has performed at a diverse list of entertainment venues including Atria’s, Roland’s, Sandcastle, Baja Bar & Grill, and the former Boardwalk floating restaurant and club venue in the Strip District.

Although the Boston native loves Pittsburgh, he found himself longing for a warmer clime, especially in the winter months. In 2017 he followed one of his Mango Men, Kevin Kornicki to Melbourne, Florida, where Kornicki’s wife, Cathleen, was serving in the Air Force at Patrick Air Force Base. 

McDonald has returned to Pittsburgh every year since to perform at private and corporate engagements. He now returns to celebrate another collaboration that he’s done with Pittsburgh novelist Charles “Chip” Bell. A Pittsburgh personal injury attorney, Bell is also a prolific writer with a series of tropical adventure novels featuring protagonist/hero, Jake Sullivan. All books in the 24-book series have titles from Jimmy Buffett songs. Bell will hold a book signing event at Moondog’s Pub in Blawnox on Wednesday, August 21  in support of the latest in his Jake Sullivan novel series, Southern Cross. John McDonald will also be on hand, performing songs from his new album, Everything’s Jake, that ties in with Bell’s, Southern Cross.

McDonald won the Trop Rock Music Association Single of the Year Award for the title song of his previous album, Islandology. He has been a noted performer in the Gulf Coast genre with his unique blend of reggae, rock, island and calypso sounds. His latest album, Everything’s Jake: A Jake Sullivan Album, is “a tribute to the Jake Sullivan Series and features songs inspired by the characters and settings in Bell’s novels.”

Jake Sullivan, Adventurer

Novelist Charles “Chip” Bell.

Bell had previously told Entertainment Central how his novel series came about, saying the idea for his Jake Sullivan book series came to him one winter day while sitting in his Arnold, Pennsylvania, law offices. “It was a very cold day and I was wishing I was somewhere warm. Jimmy Buffett’s song “Come Monday” was playing on the radio, it’s my daughter and my song. I then thought about writing a story about going away for a weekend adventure and returning on a Monday. I needed a name for the main character, my dog’s name is Jake, I thought that would be a good first name and that Sullivan sounded good as a last name.” Each book involves Jake Sullivan in a tropical locale and a lesser known fact about the country that is tied into the mystery of the storyline. 

“My real love through it all has been researching the legends and lore of the islands and other places I have selected for each book. I still enjoy being fascinated and I hope my readers feel the same!,” Bell said. Southern Cross takes readers on a journey into a world of darkness that lies beneath the tropical beauty of Cabo San Lucas, Trinidad and Tobago.

His writing process, much like his attorney work, involves dictating each line onto a digital recording device. That way he can see how the dialog sounds. It’s then typed into draft form. After using a Tarentum printer for several years, he took the book publishing and designing process in house. His daughter Jennifer, oversees each book publishing process. Bell self-publishes on the Amazon platform. Most of the books are also available as ebooks and audiobooks.

Cross-Trop Collaboration

When asked what it was like to work with McDonald, Bell said that it was great and that John McDonald is a fantastic musician and he enjoys collaborating with him. “I’ve been a fan of John’s original music for a long time and his career as a ‘Coastal Americana’ artist has really blossomed since his move to Florida,” Bell said. He added that he had also worked with a few other trop rock musicians on two other occasions, but not to this degree. Bell also said that there are very strong relationships between tropical adventure writers and trop rock musicians.

Trop rocker John McDonald.

McDonald said, “As a songwriter, I’m always looking for new sources of inspiration and Chip’s work with Jake Sullivan novels are chock-full of compelling characters and adventures, all of which take place in beachy, island settings that are right up my alley.” Bell and McDonald, fittingly, first met in Key West outside Captain Tony’s Saloon in 2018. 

“I got into Tropical Rock after hearing Paul Simon’s South Africa, world music-influenced album Graceland, which Simon followed up with a Brazilian-influenced album, The Rhythm of the Saints,” McDonald said. He also likes the world music influences in the music of Jimmy Buffett, Sting, Peter Gabriel, and David Byrne.

“McDonald’s performance at Moondog’s is sure to transport the audience to a tropical paradise with fun, catchy tunes like the title cut “Everything’s Jake,” “Life Is a Shipwreck,” and “At the Soggy Dollar Bar,” an ode to the fabled Jost Van Dyke tiki bar in the British Virgin Islands that originated the Painkiller cocktail. Since Jake Sullivan is akin to a tropical James Bond, McDonald also conjures up darker, mysterious island impulses with The Dark Side of the Sunshine State and Your Jamaica Mistake.” Everything’s Jake is full of fun, adventurous trop rock tracks that will put you in a Caribbean state of mind.

Happy hour begins at 4 p.m. (although it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere), followed by a meet and greet at 5 p.m. McDonald will be performing his trop rock songs and those of others throughout the evening. For tickets and more information visit the Moondog’s website. 378 Freeport Road, Blawnox.

Rick Handler is the executive producer of Entertainment Central.

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