The Crossroads Blues Society of Northern Illinois (Host of the Byron Crossroads Blues Festival), featured a review of Doug MacLeod’s new Fresh! release, “Brand New Eyes.” We’ll give you some of the quotes here, but we highly encourage you to read the wonderful, full review on the Crossroads Blues Society Review site.

From the Crossroads Blues Society Music and Video Reviews:
Brand New Eyes
Reviewed by Mark Thompson

“Doug MacLeod is the consummate acoustic blues musician; a gifted songwriter, expressive vocalist and superb guitar player… On his latest CD, the sixteenth of his career, the full scope of his talent is on display throughout the program of original tunes that illuminate MacLeod’s honest appraisals of the road he has traveled…

“His intricate fingerpicking creates a jaunty rhythm on “Zu-Zu Woman”, a upbeat country blues that celebrates the affections of a sweet lover. “Something Dark is Walking” is a foreboding look at the concealed danger that lies all around us. But MacLeod also has hope for mankind, a sentiment expressed on “The Train of Change” with Denny Croy on string bass and Dave Kida on drums. The lone instrumental, “Somewhere South of Somewhere”, finds MacLeod spinning dazzling embellishments on a delicate melody. He switches to slide guitar on “I Rolled a Nickel”, his voice crying out in anguish over lost love…

“MacLeod uses his ability as a storyteller to enable us to briefly see the world through his eyes. His spellbinding performances will captivate you, just as he does on a live stage. And the superb sonic qualities of this recording are exactly what you would expect from a label that is part of the Reference Recordings group, a label with a long history of audiophile-quality releases. No questions here – this one comes highly recommended!!!!” – Mark Thompson

Read the full review on http://crossroadsreviews.blogspot.com.

Brand New Eyes
Doug Macleod
FRESH! FROM REFERENCE RECORDINGS
FR-703
Purchase before March 20 from Reference Recordings at $13.48 (10% off)