Just call him Toby: Artist likes to tinker with his name, but he's a consistent force in music

Toby Mac co-produced his new disc, ‘Tonight.' Enlarge

It's hard to keep up with Toby Mac.

Not only is he one of the most electrifying and eclectic artists in today's Christian music scene, he's also a social activist, an entrepreneur, a family man, and someone who is always tinkering with his name.

The singer, songwriter, rapper, studio wizard, and chart-topping artist, who comes to Toledo March 21 for the Awake Tonight tour, co-headlining with Skillet, was born Kevin Michael McKeehan and grew up in suburban Washington.

When he rose to fame in the early 1990s with pioneering Christian rock-rap trio DC Talk, he was Toby McKeehan. Since launching his solo career in 2001, he's gone by Toby Mac, tobyMac, Tobymac, and a number of other variations in capitalization and spacing. Fans simply call him Toby.

In a recent interview, Toby acknowledged that it's been tricky for journalists to keep track of his name changes but it's all about style.

"We sort of go with the design of the record," he said by phone from Nashville, where he was finishing rehearsals for the 20-city tour that kicked off in Aurora, Ill, on March 4. "I've always wanted ‘tobymac' to be one thing, just because of space and I want to keep it tight. … but however you want to do it, honestly, it doesn't matter. But I understand it would be frustrating."

However Toby happens to spell his name at the moment, he has always been a consistent and powerful force in contemporary Christian music, producing message-driven songs that are creative and relevant, bursting with energy, diverse in style but inevitably landing atop the Christian charts.

He has been an advocate for racial harmony, not only in song but in founding the nonprofit E.R.A.C.E. Foundation with dc Talk partners Kevin Max Smith and Michael Tait, and recently started a clothing line for mothers called "The Bomb Mom" that he developed as "a way of honoring dope moms."

Toby has won five Grammy Awards, produced three Gold Records, and started his own label, Gotee Records.

His latest disc, "Tonight," was released in mid-February and features everything from aggressive rockers to bouncy hip-hop to old-school reggae.

The gorgeous, gently flowing ballad "City on our Knees," with its power pop chorus and message of repentance, is on the same disc as the opening song and title track, "Tonight," a hard-hitting rock attack that Toby co-wrote and sings with John Cooper of Skillet.

"I get some critics hounding me a little bit about the styles of my music," Toby said, "but I can say one thing for sure: I've always been true to the lyrics, even though it's been sort of a stylistic pot of gumbo."

He said a song usually starts with the melody and chorus, and then he works to find the right musical match.

"I sort of build the parts around the chorus. That's why my music sounds like pop music because it's written around a chorus," he said.

He collaborated with Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline on "Break Open the Sky," the closing track with a roots reggae feel.

"We started researching the way Bob Marley records were recorded — what machines and what instruments and how they recorded. I wanted ‘Break Open the Sky' to sound like an old recording, and I think we achieved that," said Toby, who with his Jamaican-born wife Amanda has five children including twins Marley and Moses.

Toby said he started with about 40 song ideas for "Tonight" before working his way to the final 13 tracks. With multiple layers of instrumentation and a broad array of tones and textures, "Tonight," as with all of Toby Mac's albums, reflects the artist's wealth of studio wisdom and his drive to produce a memorable sonic experience.

Toby said he spends so much time in the studio getting the record done that anyone who logged his hours "would think I was a madman."

Despite his impressive track record, he said he honestly feels unqualified to produce Gold Records or win Grammy Awards.

"It's not any kind of false humility. Part of what drives me is I'm sort of insecure. I feel a little bit under-gifted compared to a lot of the people around me. But I'm around some amazing musicians every day with amazing talent who could sit down and not only play a song on the piano but record it with Pro Tools and then sing an amazing vocal," he said.

"And here I am, a guy that writes melodies and lyrics and mixes hip-hop with rock and kind of needy for collaborators. … And I think that neediness, not only for God to breathe through me but for the collaborators that I'm privileged to work with, I think that neediness sort of keeps me on track, keeps me driven, keeps my nose to the grind, and keeps me focused."

Toby Mac and Skillet, with House of Heroes opening, will be in concert at 7 p.m. March 21 at the Lucas County Arena. Tickets, $18 to $35, are available at all Ticketmaster outlets or the arena box office, 419-321-5007.

Contact David Yonke at:

dyonke@theblade.com or

419-724-6154.