Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-10-24
For Nashville singer-songwriter Wes McDonough, making music again has meant finding a different relationship with it. His forthcoming album, We’re All Just Matter, Searching for Meaning, arrives November 6, 2026, bringing together songs about love, loss, divorce, death, addiction and recovery.
In a personal note to Grateful Web, McDonough described a journey that began with music at the center of his life. In his twenties, he had management and major-label interest, followed by years playing clubs up and down the East Coast—more than a thousand shows by his estimate. He moved to Nashville in 2008, hoping to build on that work, but eventually stepped away.
“My identity had been so intertwined with music and performing that I had no clue who I was,” he wrote.
McDonough describes the years that followed as a difficult period marked by substance abuse, loss and a struggling marriage. In 2019, he began working with a therapist and spiritual mentor. He says he ended his marriage in 2024 and quit drinking at the end of that year. As his recovery progressed, music began returning to his life.
A reunion with longtime guitarist Drew Yount helped turn that return into a recording project. Following two sold-out hometown shows in the Baltimore/D.C. area at the end of 2025, according to McDonough, the pair reconnected. Over the past year, McDonough has traveled to Yount’s New Hampshire studio every few months to write and record.
The resulting album reflects the experiences that brought him back to songwriting, with recovery a theme he expects to continue exploring.
“I'm not grasping for it or counting on it,” McDonough wrote. “But I love making music and performing it, and I'd love for it to be a big part of my life again, in a way that feels authentic and healthy.”
We’re All Just Matter, Searching for Meaning will be available on major streaming platforms November 6. Learn more about Wes McDonough at wesmcdonough.com.
