Currently available from Brambus Records:
Recognition
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Rod MacDonald ist fast seit Geburt einer der Songwriter der Brambus-Familie. Bereits 1989 veröffentlichten wir mit "Bring On The Lions" ein erstes Album des damals im Herzen von Greenwich Village in New York lebenden Künstlers. Er gehörte damals zum Kernpunkt der Fast-Folk- und Grennwich Village Künstlerkolonie, zusammen mit Jack Hardy, Suzanne Vega, Cliff Eberhard, Dave Van Ronk und etlichen mehr. Rod MacDonald fand gute Beachtung, veröffentlichte in der Folge in den USA seine CDs unter anderem für Shanachie Records und Gadlfy - in Europa blieb er Brambus treu und präsentiert hiermit nun sein fünftes Album.
In den letzten Jahren hat Rod MacDonald seinen Wohnsitz vom Herzen New Yorks nach Delray Beach (Florida) verlegt, was seinen Kompositionen musikalisch einen speziellen und neuen Anstrich verlieh, besonders gut war dies auf "Into The Blue" zu hören. Noch immer aber kehrt er jeweils nach New York zurück, um seine Songs einzuspielen und das neue Album bietet extrem viel davon! Nicht weniger als 16 neue Songs mit einer Spieldauer von klar über 70 Minuten (!!) bietet Rod MacDonald hier. Dabei fällt auf, dass er kraftvoller und mit mehr Drive als bisher durch seine Kompositionen führt. Ebenfalls auffallend ist sein Zeitengagement, seine Beobachtungsgabe und sein Einfühlungsvermögen, mit einigen Nummern geht er auf politisch-hintergründige Themen ein, in etwa in "The Man Who Dropped The Bomb On Hiroshima" oder "My Neighbors In Delray". Aber auch das Thema Liebe kommt bei Rod MacDonald zum Zuge, nicht auf abgegriffene oder schmalzige Weise, sondern verpackt in gefühlsbetonte Songs
Aufgenommen wurde das Album wiederum bei Mark Dann im Herzen New Yorks und mit seinen altbewährten Mitmusikern, wobei sogar sein schwedischer Gitarrist Steve Eriksson für die Aufnahmen einflog. Unter den Gästen ist zudem Susan McKeown zu hören. "Live" wird Rod MacDonald seine neuen Songs erst im Mai 2003 in Europa vostellen, dannzumal ist eine längere Tournee durch mehrere Länder geplant - die entsprechenden Termine folgen rechtzeitig!
Rod Mac Donald is since the birth of the brambus label going with us and presents herewith his fifth album! Since the early days of 1989 with the release of “Bring On The Lions” his songwriting emerged constantly and his new album has a much more driven kind of sounds than way back.
During the early releases, Rod Mac Donald used to live in the heart of the Greenwich Village scene, on the side of artists like Jack Hardy, Suzanne Vega, Cliff Eberhard, Dave Van Ronk and many more. His albums have been released in the USA by the labels Shanachie and Gadly, in Europe all of them are on brambus and all are still available.
During the last couple years, Rod Mac Donald has moved to Delray Beach in Florida to take care to his father, who recently died. Florida influenced his songwriting, which could have been heard strongly on “Into The Blue”. But he still returns to New York to record his new albums with his former sidemen and friends.
And after a longer recording period, the new album has been finished. Rod Mac Donald still has a lot to sing about: not less then 16 songs and with way over 70 minutes playing time is offered on this new and fantastic milestone of his career. And he does not only serve love songs, Rod Mac Donald has a very critical eye on the political scene of these days and some deep going stories but into songs, as “The Man Who Dropped The Bomb On Hiroshima” or “My Neighbors In Delray”.
The recordings have been done in Mark Dann’s studio in the heart of New York and with some of his old friends, including guitar player Steve Eriksson, who flew in from Sweden and with the known voice of Susan McKeown.
Rod Mac Donald will be heard live with his stories in Europe again in may 2003, when an extensive European tour is scheduled, details to this will follow!
White Buffalo
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Bring On The Lions
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And Then He Woke Up
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Into The Blue
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CD Review: Into The Blue
We do not think it will be necessary to introduce Rod MacDonald. He looks back over a long career with a long list of CD releases for established labels including Shanachie, Gadfly, and last but not least, four releases for Brambus. His newest materpiece Into the Blue is the logical development of his move from the gray New York City big scene to the wide blue sky and beaches of Florida. More and more the influences of his new homeplace show up in his personal songwriting.
The title It's a Tough Life is a good example of this. In the American release of the album, this Brambus CD has four additional live-cuts, bringing the length of the CD to nearly 70 minutes of fine, tasteful and dynamic songwriting. The live cuts were recorded during his last tour in Europe and finally deliver the live trio line-up on CD for the first time!
Seventeen new songs with the former New York songwriting master and now established Floridian! Get the taste of a wonderful sugar sand beach under the deep blue sky combined with great songwriting to put you in a great mood!
A Tale Of Two Americas
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Wir freuen uns, dass wir seit 1989 mit Rod MacDonald zusammenarbeiten und in den bisherigen 15 Jahren bereits ein gutes halbes Dutzend toller CDs mit ihm eingespielt und veröffentlicht haben. Recht überraschend hat er für die bevorstehende Tournee durch Mitteleuropa ein neues Werk fertig gestellt! Tolle, starke, politisch engagierte und persönlich stark beobachtende Songs, die einmal mehr seine Schreibkraft unterstreichen – 17 Songs sind auf dem neuen Album zu hören und da wir Rod schon mehrmals vorgestellt hatten, diesmal schlicht seine persönlichen Worte zum neuen Werk:
“We didn't set out to make a new cd, not at first.... I was in New York working on another project when Mark Dann sat me down in his Woodstock studio late one night and asked me to play some new and old songs.... each time I was in New York he asked me to do some more, until a few months later we had enough for a new recording....
during this time we had a war, an election, and my wife Nicole and I had our first child, Ella Marie...
it became a world where politicians pay off the rich and steal from the poor...where rich boys, protected from ever knowing what real life is about, talk tough so fearful people will vote for them....where national leaders pray for intolerance, test for ignorance, work for poverty, stand tall for pollution, celebrate war, and commercialize violence, all while claiming their moral superiority... against this lurid background our daughter, and millions like her, unfolds
every day in the quiet of her own tiny world, imagining a future where love and joy can flourish... I can only hope that time and humanity are on her side... in the meantime, every day is a new one, and there's work to be done.... these are those songs...this is that album....
rod macdonald
march 2005
Mehr Informationen: www.rodmacdonald.net
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With the political critical album “Two Ways Of America” Rod MacDonald finished his first half dozen of excellent releases on brambus in 2006! Now we start the second half with an outstanding, very strong masterpiece, which features some of his earlier songs in new versions and some significant new songs! Simple titles “This One”, this one might be his best move so far!
Sometime during their successful 2007 tour, lead guitarist JP Bowersock turned to Rod MacDonald and said, "Dude, you have so many great songs on your cds, but they're in all different styles. You should let me produce your next cd, including your audience's favorites and some new songs, and make a classic Rod MacDonald cd." JP had already produced cds for Ryan Adams and other artists in New York, so Rod said "let's do it."
Adding drummer Gary Burke, a veteran of Joe Jackson's hits, and jazz keyboardist Pete Levin to Bowersock, MacDonald and bassist Mark Dann, the project quickly caught fire, giving a strong background to MacDonald's powerful songs and singing. With the beautiful harmonies of such singers as Tracy Grammer and Penny Nichols, a set list mixing longtime favorites and passionate new songs by MacDonald, and the pristine recording work of Mark Dann, "This One" is truly a classic Rod MacDonald cd to treasure through repeated listenings.
More information: www.rodmacdonald.net
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With the political critical album “Two Ways Of America” Rod MacDonald finished his first half dozen of excellent releases on brambus in 2006! Two years later he followed up with “This One” as another masterpiece and now, we are in 2011 and Rod MacDonald is back with strong songwriting and not less than 16 new songs! Here are his notes to it:
With "Songs Of Freedom" Mark Dann and I set out to produce a CD that would be both acoustic and contemporary, using modern technology to get a clean and simple recording of my newest songs. These recordings are what live performing does best, the energy and feeling of story-telling without over-production, using only voice, guitars, bass and drums for the music. The result, I hope, will please and communicate with the listener in a most direct way.
These are new and hopeful songs, some personal, some with relevance and a sense of humor, inspired by---but not necessarily about--private and public events, such as the historic election of an African-American to the US Presidency, or the attempt by religious conservatives to use their own "Freedom Of Religion" to limit everyone else's. Other songs are more personal, like "The Belly Button Song," which answers a child's question about that great mystery, or "When You Were Two," about the earliest memories of our own lives. And there's "John King", a true two-centuries-old tale of a man wrongly imprisoned to profit those in power, that sounds eerily like today's news. "Big Money", "Google Me Baby, and "Moron Radio" take a poke at the political climate, while "Just Because" and "One Good Song" show that gaining--and keeping--true freedom require us all to pay attention.
It's a delicate balance, to find the love and humor in these times; we offer this music to you, the listener, with thanks for your attention and regard, and hope you enjoy this CD, today and in the years to come.
Rod MacDonald
More information: www.rodmacdonald.net
