McClain left home when he was thirteen and followed local R&B guitarist, Little Melvin Underwood through the Chitlin' Circuit, first as his valet and then as lead vocalist himself at 15.

[citation needed] By the early 1990s, McClain relocated to New England through his participation in the "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party" project.

In early 2009, McClain recorded an album of duets with the Iranian folk singer, Mahsa Vahdat.

The resulting album, Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations reached #6 in the European World Music Chart.

[citation needed] McClain and the guitarist for this project, Knut Reiersrud, collaborated on One Drop is Plenty that was recorded in Norway in January 2011.

"Find the Sun" was written by Thompson and Joe Deleault, and McClain appeared in a cameo role in the film singing the song.

On the album McClain performed "If I Can Dream" - a Walter Earl Brown song made famous by Elvis Presley.