Blues In Britain profiles and interviews Doug MacLeod before his UK tour: Order Now “Doug’s storytelling has been honed on long shifts as a blues DJ and, later, in his award- winning column ‘Doug’s Back-porch’ in US magazines. His songs have real content and he makes no apology for the time he spends placing them in context; the introductions are sometimes longer than the songs – and twice as funny! We have no recordings of…
Order Now What connects the Blues, Star Wars, and “The Golden Record”? Blues Music Magazine makes the connections in Doug MacLeod’s Break The Chain in their October 2017 issue: “Doug MacLeod’s new album — the 17th according to the All Music Guide — has at times…that spatial sound of desert nights in the far Out-Beyond. It’s a world where MacLeod’s array of National Reso-Phonic guitars produce a feeling so haunting you can almost hear the…
Live Doug MacLeod performance from the 2017 Blues Music Awards on the latest episode of Blues Radio International: Order Now Doug MacLeod: Break The Chain In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to explore the breadth and depth of the human condition. Recorded by Reference’s Grammy-winning engineer ‘Prof.’ Keith O. Johnson at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California, Break The Chain brings twelve new MacLeod originals. Each song is extremely…
Order Now “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,…
Order Now “Beloved acoustic bluesman Doug MacLeod is an anachronism in the modern world, a troubadour in the songster tradition who delivers extremely personal tunes that vary from insightful and intimate to humorous or soulful, as he proves once again in this 12-tune, all-original collection that feels like he’s playing in your living room and just for you. … His homespun vocal delivery belies his birthplace and hints at other lengthy stops along the way,…
Order Now Downbeat Magazine gives Doug MacLeod and Break The Chain a four-star rating in the November 2017 Issue! “Doug MacLeod, a craftsman of rare skill and sagacity, share more than a few dramatic affinities with past greats as he offers his own creative parameters to the common 12-bar language. … distinctive, well-regulated singing and note-bending on classic guitars stimulate the keening hopefulness… [performed] with five assured sidemen, including his son Jesse on guitar. One…
Doug MacLeod’s Break The Chain is topping the radio airplay charts worldwide! #3 on the UK Independent Blues Broadcasters Association Chart #9 on the Australian International Blues Airplay Chart Order Now Doug MacLeod: Break The Chain In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to explore the breadth and depth of the human condition. Recorded by Reference’s Grammy-winning engineer ‘Prof.’ Keith O. Johnson at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California, Break…
Order Now Doug MacLeod’s new Break The Chain recording receives ratings of 4/5 in Music and 5/5 in Sonics from The Absolute Sound: “Singer, songwriter, and skilled guitarist Doug MacLeod has won four Blues Music Awards, including 2017’s Acoustic Artist of the Year. Break the Chain offers 12 blues originals that ponder Saturday night rituals, lost dreams, politics, and aging. But MacLeod is first and foremost a keeper of the torch who celebrates Tampa Red…
Order Now The “Audiophile: Digital” section of HiFi News Magazine has a great review for Doug MacLeod’s new Break The Chain recording: “MacLeod’s third for Reference ticks all the boxes for arch purists — both blues devotees and hard-core audiophiles. For the former, the 12 new songs are undiluted, unapologetic paeans to the genre, some with a bit of spleen. … authenticity is the order of the day. This, too, informs the audiophile element: no…
Critic Iain Patience offers a rave review for Doug MacLeod’s Break The Chain recording in Cashbox Canada Magazine: Order Now “‘Break the Chain’ is the latest, twelve-track offering from leading US steel-guitar and slide master, Doug MacLeod. Recorded once again with Reference Recordings and Prof Johnson’s crystal-clear 24-bit set-up, this is an album that is bound to create enormous interest as is often the case with this guy’s music. MacLeod is a regular award-winner; indeed,…
Enjoy a look at Doug MacLeod performing the title track from the new Break The Chain release at a recent concert in Texas: Order Now Doug MacLeod: Break The Chain In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to explore the breadth and depth of the human condition. Recorded by Reference’s Grammy-winning engineer ‘Prof.’ Keith O. Johnson at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California, Break The Chain brings twelve new MacLeod…
Order Now “I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Break The Chain, from Doug MacLeod and it’s a cool, textural documentary of contemporary observations. Opening with boogie rocker, Goin’ Down To The Roadhouse, Doug gets into a real nice groove with slide on resonator joined by Denny Croy on bass and Jimi Bott on drums. On Lonesome Feeling, Doug really gives his National steel body a rough workout. His wailing and…
Order Now “Break the Chain does not do musically what the title implies. We have brilliant consistency. Here, you’ll find eleven songs and a ‘holler’ (story). Audiophiles will especially like the spoken voice track as they are so difficult to get right on recordings. … As the Reference team was together in Marin County’s Skywalker Studios, including recording engineer marvel Prof. Keith O. Johnson and diva dynamo producer, Jan Mancuso, the sound on all twelve…
Doug MacLeod’s Break The Chain recording continues to make moves on the radio charts – #8 on the latest Living Blues chart – and this past weekend he was interviewed on KPFA’s Blues By The Bay program. Listen to the full broadcast on KPFA.org and skip to the 01:03:17 mark for Doug’s interview. Order Now Doug MacLeod: Break The Chain In this release, his third album for Reference Recordings, Doug MacLeod continues to explore the…
The August 2017 issue of the UK’s Blues Matters magazine has a fantastic new interview with Doug MacLeod titled “I’m an Entertainer Not An Artist.” I hadn’t seen acoustic- bluesman Doug MacLeod play for a while when I caught up with him on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise of the Caribbean earlier this year; then I was able to hear him three times in four days! Californian-resident Doug is no stranger to the UK,…
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit
Mark Donahue & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)