Living Blues released their Top 50 Blues Albums for 2017 and Doug MacLeod’s Blues Music Awards-nominated album, Break The Chain, comes in at #48!
“Like all good blues storytellers, Doug MacLeod sings and speaks the truth. Indeed, the blues as a medium of truth telling appears throughout his latest release, Break the Chain. In the liner notes, MacLeod reveals that his son, Jesse, who plays guitar on the disc, was diagnosed with spindle cell melanoma at the time of the recording (the cancer has since been removed). The title song speaks to the issue of family abuse, something the elder MacLeod refused to inflict on his son Jesse. ‘You got the power to break the chain,’ MacLeod sings, ‘you got the power to make a change.’ … MacLeod does not shy away from admitting mistakes in relationships (Lonesome Feeling), nor is he afraid to speak out against the greed of Wall Street…(Who’s Driving this Bus?). Not surprisingly, he decries inauthenticity in songs such as the humourous Mr. Bloozeman. … The blues as truth motif is also embodied in the recording process itself. … Break the Chain, MacLeod asserts, reflects ‘music made by humans for humans.’ The music is as truthful as it is beautiful and sublime. … MacLeod avoids flash and speed and concentrates on communicating genuine emotion through his slide guitar. … Beak the Chain celebrates the intimacy of family and friends. In particular, the five photos of MacLeod and his son standing together has an affective, heartwarming embrace. While MacLeod ‘breaks the chain’ of family abuse, the chain between father and son will never be undone.”