1. Rod MacDonald was born on August 17,1948 and is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator.
19 Facts About Rod MacDonald
1. 2.
Rod MacDonald was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs", performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwriter's Exchange" at the Cornelia Street Cafe.
3.
Rod MacDonald co-founded the Greenwich Village Folk Festival, now a non-profit, and is still the President and co-producer of its events.
4.
Rod MacDonald's songs have been covered by Dave Van Ronk, Shawn Colvin, Four Bitchin' Babes, Jonathan Edwards, Garnet Rogers, Joe Jencks, and others.
5.
Rod MacDonald's 1985 recording "White Buffalo" is dedicated to Lakota Sioux ceremonial chief and healer Frank Fools Crow, whom he visited in 1981 and 1985, and who appears with MacDonald in the cover photograph.
6.
Since 1995, MacDonald has lived in south Florida, where his cd, "Later that Night" was named "Best Local Cd of 2014" by The Palm Beach Post and reached the top ten in national roots music charts.
7.
On December 10,2020, Rod MacDonald released his 13th solo recording, Boulevard, on Blue Flute Music.
8.
Rod MacDonald began his musical education as a slide trombonist at 11, switching to guitar in his mid-teens as he learned the popular 1960s folk songs.
9.
Rod MacDonald worked summers as a reporter for the Hartford Courant in 1969 and Newsweek in Atlanta and Washington, DC, for whom he covered the Pentagon Papers trial.
10.
Rod MacDonald was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector in August 1972.
11.
Rod MacDonald graduated law school in 1973 but did not take the bar exam, instead beginning his professional career in music in New York City.
12.
Rod MacDonald has recorded 3 cds as lead singer of Big Brass Bed, a Palm Beach County rock and roll band, and appears on numerous compilations of Florida and folk artists.
13.
Rod MacDonald has appeared on stage with many artists, including Pete Seeger, Peter Yarrow, Odetta, Tom Paxton, the Violent Femmes, Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Dave Van Ronk, Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens, Ani DiFranco, Tom Chapin, Jack Hardy, David Massengill, Joe Jencks and many others.
14.
Rod MacDonald was a regular contributor to the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, publishing 21 songs and interviewing other artists, and appeared in its annual concerts.
15.
Rod MacDonald has performed at major festivals in Philadelphia, Winnipeg, Florida, South Florida, Riverhawk, Boston, Kerrville, Greenwich Village, Falcon Ridge, New Bedford Summerfest, Port Fairy, Friuli, Edinburgh Fringe and Trowbridge, and on the radio program Mountain Stage.
16.
Rod MacDonald was reportedly the first American singer to tour the newly independent Czech Republic in 1991, and has made 50 tours in Europe since 1985, nearly all of them with NYC bassist Mark Dann.
17.
Rod MacDonald completed a RT tour of the US through summer 2024, and as of January 2025 has announced dates in the SW, SE and NE US in spring.
18.
Rod MacDonald is lead singer of the Dylan cover band Big Brass Bed, named "Best Folk Band" in 2016 by the New Times Broward-Palm Beach, and performs with the Humdingers, with Irish singer Tracy Sands, and with songwriter George Goehring's show "My Life in the Brill Building".
19.
Rod MacDonald's place in the folk hall of fame is assured by his 'A Sailor's Prayer,' a hymn-styled tune that many people have mistaken for a traditional song.