Pearl Jam guitarist McCready at ease discussing almost any topic

Pearl Jam has always been a politically and socially conscious band, and its members don't shy away from sticky situations.

Ask guitarist Mike McCready any question you like about the U.S. war with Iraq, the band's up-and-down fortunes, the manipulations of record companies, the wisdom of releasing 72 concert CDs and he'll discuss the issue in a friendly, open way.

McCready, who turns 37 on Saturday, seems like a regular guy, and a happy one, during a phone conversation with The Birmingham News.

Although he touches on some potentially controversial subjects, McCready balances realism with optimism and gravity with laughter.

He has no qualms about revealing that lower ticket sales than anticipated caused the rock band and its promoter, Beaver Productions, to move Wednesday's concert here from the 18,000-seat BJCC Arena to a smaller venue, the 10,500-seat Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham.

"We're selling out a lot of the dates, but not that one," McCready says.

In a way, Pearl Jam has been downsizing since the mid-1990s, after its first, explosive rush of national fame as part of the Seattle grunge movement.

"Obviously, at one time it was way bigger and way crazy," McCready says. "None of us were comfortable with that, especially Ed." (That's lead singer Eddie Vedder).

"We still want to be popular and want people to come out to shows," McCready says, "because it's what we love doing. Are people still listening to us? That's what we care about. It's not fame as in trying to get a good restaurant seat, or anything like that."

Pearl Jam recently returned to the United States after touring overseas to spread the word about its latest album, "Riot Act." McCready, taking a few days off at his home in Long Beach, Calif., says the group "honed a pretty tight set" in Australia and Japan, getting ready for its shows in the States.

While foreign audiences were appreciative, McCready says, he noticed some anti-American sentiments in the air as the U.S. prepared to invade Iraq.

"Japan was very much with America," he says. "But there's a weird feeling out there."

Vedder, the most outspoken member of Pearl Jam, aired his anti-war sentiments from the stage almost nightly before the war broke out, McCready says.

When asked for his views on the conflict, McCready who calls himself "the only nonmilitary guy in a military family" focuses on a successful outcome.

"I have a cousin over there, and I want him to come back alive," he says. "I support the troops. You have to. It's a heinous, horrible time."

McCready says he believes musicians have the right to express their opinions and the power to nudge along social change.

"But you can be too preachy and turn people off," he says. "I hate that and will immediately run from that. Politics and art run a fine line. They influence each other, but can also get in the way of each other.

"I just bought the new `Essential Clash' CD, and they do it right," he continues. "They didn't preach it so much as just believe it."

Pearl Jam's strong beliefs have occasionally placed the band at odds with its label and with the mainstream music business. The group's failed war with Ticketmaster is one obvious example. In the past, Pearl Jam also refused to appear in its own videos and at one time launched a press blackout.

"You go through the roller-coaster of the machine, to quote Pink Floyd," McCready says. "Sony or whoever, to put Pearl Jam out, turns you into this product. It's a trip, but it's what you have to do to get out to the masses. Then you can create music and call your own shots. Lucky for us, we sold a ton of records."

One of Pearl Jam's pet projects, a lengthy series of official "bootleg" albums recorded at concert stops, struck a chord with fans over the past couple of years and is still in the works, McCready says.

"We had a lot of people laughing at us over that," he says. "People said, `There they go with one of their bizarre ideas.' That includes the record company. But we shocked people and did pretty good with it."

While the first 72 discs were made available in stores, Pearl Jam's 2003 bootlegs are being released through the band's Internet fan club (www.tenclub.net).

Each includes an MP3 download the day after the performance, and a double disc that ships in 7-20 days, according to a linked site, www.pearljambootlegs.com.

"That comes from us being fans of music," McCready says. "We talked about when we were growing up, what we liked or disliked about being in a fan club. This is something we would have wanted."

One final question: Does McCready, who was born in Pensacola, consider himself a Southerner?

"I do think of myself as a Southerner, even though I lived in Seattle most of my life," he says. "I have my Southern roots. I brag on them to my friends out here. I love Skynyrd. But I have this whiny kind of West Coast accent."