Beautiful review for Doug MacLeod’s Between Somewhere and Goodbye from Huntsville, Alabama’s WLRH FM/WJAB FM Radio’s Dave Gallaher:

“With much gratitude I opened the CD of Between Somewhere and Goodbye — first noticing that packaging this good is an extinct luxury in contemporary blues recordings in this first quarter of the 21st century.  

Choosing to open this radio feature with the mysterious mysticism of I Ain’t No Stranger (a glistening addition to Doug’s “ain’t no” songs) may be asking a lot of some audiences — but not the Deep Blues lovers.  The Unseen is unknown to many, but one cannot venture very far back into the lore before it is referenced by icons of the first fifty years of the 20th.  Kind enough to list his instrument and tuning of choice for each selection (“Too Many D’s” in this case), Doug keeps the verses spare.  Putting extra verbiage upon the Unseen only obscures it further; he obviously knows this from experience.

I Ain’t No Stranger is a great spot to discover the subtlety of Andreas Werner’s production and arrangements.  Rhythm guitar, bass and drums are present, but preciously so.  No anchoring or yanking of Doug’s fingerwork occurs.  Rather, it is that ‘Musical Unseen’ worshipped in Muscle Shoals that companions his deftness — the Pocket.  This sparkling recording is inflection-centric:  very suitable for Reference Recordings, a label that collects awards for its classical mastery.

But how about the in-your-face spirit that is more familiar to the masses?  Dealt with directly in the key-of-E shuffle of One Rib Short, Doug fanfares some Lightnin’ Hopklns upfront, but the street corner evangelist takes over the libretto of the so-familiar story often denigrated in contemporary thought.  Here – following some tasty Chicago chops – the entire premise is made relevant by Doug’s revelation about the abundance of begetting that followed the Garden of Eden:  “The problem we got — is we all inbred.” 

They’ve made a riverine video for Memphis In Your Soul, but damned if it’s needed with the lyrical tour Macleod conducts.  The groove cruises on subtle syncopations, but with iconic bottom-of-the-neck upbeats from the bass that uplift the piece.  Doug’s singular guitar figures tie it together, but fail to prepare the listener for raised hairs when Shoals Sisters Marie Lewey, Cindy Walker and Carla Russell emerge midsong with textured triads that sanctify the entire procession, with tiny but delicious exhortations from Carla.

Happily, the Shoals Sisters return — bringing with them the spirit of Curtis Mayfield — for Keep On Walking On.  If the deep night mysticism of I Ain’t No Stranger explores the Unseen, Keep On Walking On brings the daylight faith that outshines the dark.  

There’s so much more in the other seven tracks beyond this radio feature, but index for yourself the range of character in Doug Macleod’s fingerings, phrasing and voice timbres.  This is quiet genius from a man who can shout, embraced in Andreas Werner’s nuanced production, ordained by hands and voices of great skill.”