Music: Doughty 'Golden' boy again

As love affairs go, Mike Doughty's relationship with the Twin Cities was a whirlwind young romance that lasted for the long haul.

"For like the first couple years in [Soul Coughing], we'd play to 250 people in Chicago, 1,500 people in Minneapolis, and then back to 150 people in Denver," Doughty remembered. "There's always been that strong foundation there."

It's still here, eight years after the breakup of his New York-reared "slacker jazz" group. His solo singles get strong airplay on the Current 89.3 and Cities 97, both staffed by ex-DJs of the late, lamented station that gave Soul Coughing its early boost, Rev 105.

The New Yorker even has found a creative partner in Minneapolis: former Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, who produced Doughty's two main albums, 2005's "Haughty Melodic" and last month's release "Golden Delicious."

"When I first went out there to work with Dan, I loved it," said Doughty. "I thought he was a really intellectual and empathetic guy. And I loved the way our little recordings sounded. They were just demos, but they were great, and that's how 'Haughty Melodic' came about."

"Golden Delicious" takes its musical cue from "Haughty," with a lot of acoustic-based and raw sounds. His music has developed since his Soul Coughing days, but Doughty, 37, remains a distinctive songwriting voice. He balances poetic and surrealistic songs with ironic or satirical tunes like "27 Jennifers," a funny riff on a real-life dating pattern.

"I dated, like, five women named Michelle right in a row," he said. "But Jennifer just sounded better than Michelle in the context of a song. Also, I remembered in high school that all the girls were either named Jennifer, Heather or Lisa."

After growing up on military bases, Doughty rebelled against his upbringing, headed to New York City and formed Soul Coughing in 1992. The group issued three albums over six years. However, he said there was bad blood in the group just a few years into it -- mostly over creative control.

"After the first album, getting those three guys to agree to play my ideas was always a problem," he said. "They wouldn't listen to me, or I'd have to go through this weird subterfuge to get my stuff played.

"Basically, I look back on the band as a huge missed opportunity. I think we could've been a significant band, but we're a footnote."

After Soul Coughing's split, the singer/grunter developed a bad drug habit and was more or less left for dead. Lesser singers might have fallen by the wayside. "I wish I could say I had a master plan, but the truth is I really didn't know anything else I could do for a living," Doughty said.

The Twin Cities once again played a role in his life. In 2002, he recorded a show at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis and released it himself as a limited-edition CD, "Smofe & Smang."

"It was the first time I had played Minneapolis in a year or two, and I remember it was a pretty magical night," he recalled.

The CD rekindled the interest of fans, and after another self-release ("Skittish"), Doughty was picked up by the artist-friendly ATO Records. Despite his success as an independent artist, he's one singer you won't find trash-talking the now-floundering corporate music world.

"One of the main reasons I have an audience is because Warner Bros. spent a lot of money on me years ago. I can't imagine what it's like to be a completely new artist without that support nowadays."

Of course, in Minneapolis he has the kind of fans that money can't buy.