Amerikansk blueslegende og vinder af fem Blues Music Awards
Doug MacLeod, født i 1946 i New York City, er en af USA’s mest berømte akustiske bluesmusikere. MacLeod er kendt for sin fremragende sangskrivning, guitartryllerier, varme sjælfulde vokaler og uforglemmelige liveoptrædener. Med sin unikke stemme og fingerstil på guitaren har han skabt en blanding af delta blues, ragtime og folkemusik, der har gjort ham til en favorit blandt fans og kritikere. MacLeod har udgivet adskillige albums i løbet af sin karriere, heriblandt “Unmarked Road” og “Exactly Like This”, som har modtaget strålende anmeldelser og har været med til at cementere hans position som en af de mest talentfulde bluesmusikere i branchen. Udover sin musikalske karriere har MacLeod også arbejdet som musikproducer og skrevet sange for andre kunstnere. Han har også undervist i musik og holdt workshops for bluesguitarister over hele verden. MacLeod har vundet fem Blues Music Awards, herunder “Årets akustiske kunstner” og “Bedste akustiske album” for hans album “Break the Chain”. Han er også blevet nomineret til flere andre priser, blandt andet en Grammy for hans album “A Little Sin”. Han blev for nylig nomineret til 2023 Blues Music Award for årets akustiske kunstner. I marts 2022 skrev han sammen med Debra Schiff blues-mordmysteriebogen MURDER AT THE CROSSROADS.
I 2022 udkom A SOUL TO CLAIM produceret af Jim Gaines. Den blev kåret som Downbeat Magazine ‘Album Of The Year’ for 2022. I marts 2023 blev RAW BLUES 1 EP udgivet på Sledgehammer Blues/ Valley Entertainment selskabet.
Doug er en international turnerende kunstner, der skriver og synger originale sange, der er baseret på hans eget liv og erfaringer. Han lærte af de gamle mestre og fører en værdifuld tradition videre.
Som ung overvandt Doug misbrug og en stammen ved at vende sig til musikken. Efter at have taget en guitar op og sunget – fandt han sin stemme. MacLeods spil bragte ham sammen med George ‘Harmonica’ Smith, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Lowell Fulson og Big Mama Thornton. Over 30 år, 22 studiealbum, adskillige live-plader, opsamlinger, en bluesguitar instruktions-DVD og en live-optrædende DVD, har MacLeod udviklet sin stil til perfektion. Hans sange er blevet dækket af mange kunstnere, herunder Albert King, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker og Eva Cassidy.
MacLeods sange har været med i mange tv-film og hitshowet “In the Heat of the Night”.
Fra 1999 til 2004 var Doug vært for Nothin’ But The Blues, et meget populært weekend bluesshow på Los Angeles’ KLON-KKJZ. Han har også været stemmen til The Blues Showcase på Continental Airlines. I ti år skrev han “Doug’s Back Porch”, en fast kronik i Blues Revue Magazine, hvor han delte sine humoristiske og indsigtsfulde historier med tusindvis af læsere.
Han er en af de fire fremhævede kunstnere i filmen “Resonate: A Guitar Story”, spilledokumentaren om fremstillingen af nationale guitarer. Ligesom de gamle mestre, der lærte ham, udtrykker MacLeods musik liv og tider gennem en uhåndgribelig, undvigende egenskab, der måske simpelthen er en skarp fornemmelse af, hvad der betyder mest. Dougs musik, historier og filosofi giver en helbredelse, der har hjulpet andre med at overvinde deres livs strabadser. Doug siger, at de vigtigste lektier, han lærte som ung musiker, kom fra Ernest Banks, en enøjet countrybluesman fra Toano, VA. “Spil aldrig en tone, du ikke tror på” og “Skriv eller syng aldrig om det, du ikke ved om.”
Som Blues Hall Of Fame-kunstneren Pee Wee Craytons enke Esther engang fortalte Doug: “Du har en besked og du vil hovedsageligt sende den besked til de mennesker, der ikke går i kirke.” Amen.
Doug MacLeod fortsætter med at turnere og spille for fans over hele verden, og hans passion for bluesmusik er lige så stærk som nogensinde. Fans og kritikere ser frem til at høre mere fra denne legendariske musiker i fremtiden.
«Som alle store bluesmænd lever MacLeod sin musik, og sangene er ikke kun på spidsen af hans fingre og tunge, de er ét med sit væsen». – Blues Music Magazine
«En af de store blueskunstnere… Sådan!» – Jorma Kaukonen/Hot Tuna.
«Doug MacLeod er en af de sidste og mest ikoniske sangskrivere inden for blues, som nutidens scene stadig kan tilbyde.» – Macalle Blues – Italien.
🇬🇧 ENGLISH 🇬🇧
MacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit, and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of a Doug MacLeod performance is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters from the faceless to the legendary-to strikingly real life.
Doug is a multiple Blues Music Award winner, including the 2020 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Artist Of The Year and the 2018 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album Of The Year ‘Break The Chain’. He was recently nominated for the 2023 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Artist Of The Year.
In March of 2022 he co-authored with Debra Schiff the blues murder mystery book MURDER AT THE CROSSROADS.
In 2022 A SOUL TO CLAIM produced by Jim Gaines was released. It was named a Downbeat Magazine ‘Album Of The Year’ for 2022.
In March 2023 RAW BLUES 1 EP was released on Sledgehammer Blues/ Valley Entertainment.
Doug is an international touring artist who writes and sings original songs that are based on his own life and experiences. He learned from the old masters and carries forward a valuable tradition.
As a youth, Doug overcame abuse and a crippling stutter by turning to music. After picking up a guitar, and singing – he found his voice.
MacLeod’s playing landed him sideman gigs with George ‘Harmonica’ Smith, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Lowell Fulson, and Big Mama Thornton. Over 30 years, 22 studio albums, several live records, compilations, a blues guitar instructional DVD, and a live performance DVD, MacLeod has consistently earned raves.
His songs have been covered by many artists including Albert King, Albert Collins, Joe Louis Walker and Eva Cassidy. MacLeod’s songs have been featured in many TV movies and the hit show In the Heat of the Night. August Wilson requested his soulful slide guitar playing in the Los Angeles opening of “Gem of the Ocean”.
From 1999 to 2004 Doug hosted Nothin’ But The Blues, a very popular weekend blues show on Los Angeles’ KLON-KKJZ. He has also been the voice for The Blues Showcase on Continental Airlines. For ten years he penned “Doug’s Back Porch,” a regular feature column in Blues Revue Magazine in which he shared his humorous and insightful stories with thousands of readers. He is one of the four featured artists in the movie “Resonate: A Guitar Story”, the feature documentary on the making of National Guitars. Like the old masters who taught him, MacLeod’s music expresses life and times through an intangible, elusive quality that may simply be a keen sense of what matters most. Doug’s music, stories, and philosophy provide a healing that has helped others overcome the hardships of their lives.
Doug says the most important lessons he learned as a young musician came from Ernest Banks a one-eyed country bluesman from Toano, VA. “Never play a note you don’t believe” and “Never write or sing about what you don’t know about.”
As Blues Hall Of Fame artist Pee Wee Crayton’s widow Esther once told Doug, “You have a message and you’ll send that message mainly to the people who don’t go to church.” Amen.
« Like all great blues men, MacLeod lives his music, and the songs are not just on the tips of his fingers and tongue, they are one with his being ». – Blues Music Magazine
« One of the great blues artists… Period ! » – Jorma Kaukonen.
« Doug MacLeod is one of the last and most iconic songwriters in blues that the contemporary scene can still offer. »
– Macalle Blues – Italy.