Frank McComb at the Breakfast Klub

Today, McComb appears to admire Bill Gates more than anyone in the music biz — in fact, McComb calls Gates "our modern-day Moses." McComb seems thrilled to be cutting out all the middlemen, giving the people what they want when they want it. He's not above a bit of gloating. "I told people this, and they didn't listen to me — and now, it's happening," he says, recalling the times when record-industry folk scoffed at his plans for delivering his music online.

You also get the feeling that McComb is getting a kick out of watching the implosion of the entire music industry as we know it. "Record companies put a lot of money into artwork, and it's only two good songs on the record," he says. "My kids are ten and 12, and they can tell you that. My kids don't even buy CDs in the stores anymore. They don't care about artwork. They can download artwork. My kids go on iTunes and they run up my credit card by getting music off the Internet. They don't care about no CDs. I can't stand CDs all over the house anyway.

"I'm not bitter — don't get me wrong," he says. "I'm just telling the truth." You could hardly blame the man for feeling a twinge of resentment toward all those shady sumbitches who used and abused him over the years. But he promises he isn't looking back in anger. "I can laugh at it now," he says, chuckling, "'cause I cried many days."

Frank McComb performs Friday, July 6, at the Breakfast Klub, 3711 Travis, 713-731-2409.