For a white man, singer-songwriter Michael McDonald had a voice that sounded black and always in dire straits.

We remember being struck by it during his tenure with the 1970s Doobie Brothers (?It Keeps You Running,? ?Takin? It to the Streets,? ?Minute By Minute? and ?What a Fool Believes? are some examples), and even earlier as a sideman with Steely Dan (his backup vocals can be heard on ?Peg,? among other songs by that hip jazz-rock group).

In the ?80s, McDonald went on to have a successful solo career, including collaborations with Kenny Loggins, James Ingram, Patti Labelle and Van Halen.

McDonald?s recent albums that paid tribute to his soul music influences have also been selling well. At 58, he?s definitely not over the hill.

En route to his back-to-back concert with another soulful singer-songwriter, Boz Scaggs, tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum, McDonald found time for this e-mail chat with the Inquirer:

In recent years you?ve recorded two Motown tribute albums and another record of R&B/soul classics. Does that reflect your roots as a musician?

Yes, they really do and, from a personal experience standpoint, they take me back to my early years of performing with club bands in the St. Louis (Missouri) area. Pop-R&B was the music we played and preferred.

What was it like recording and touring with Steely Dan?

Touring was the first experience I had with Steely Dan. It was thrilling on many levels, not the least of which was getting to perform this very soulfully clever and innovative music every night with one of my favorite bands. Also the travel involved was new to me at the time and I suddenly found myself going to places that, up to that point, I?d only dreamed of.

Joining the Doobie Brothers was a pivotal move in your career. What was the experience like?

It was an experience that was at times both exhilarating and frightening. I realized that I was being given the opportunity of a lifetime. I feel it brought out the best and the worst in me as a person at different times. That, I guess, is just how life goes, especially in situations like that, where you want to come through with flying colors, but deep down you?re afraid you might not have what it takes.

What is the process of selecting songs to perform live from your huge catalogue? What can your Manila fans expect to hear?

We just try to put ourselves in the audiences? place and play a cross section of the songs we think they would want to hear from the different evolutions .

Have you toured with Boz Scaggs in the past?

Boz and I have worked together from time to time over a good many years. It started with a tour with Joe Walsh in Japan in the early ?80s. There was the ?Rock and Soul Revue? tour in the ?90s with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and a myriad of other artists; and most recently we?ve been touring since last summer throughout the States.