Doug MacLeod

Between Somewhere And Goodbye

Reference Recordings

Doug MacLeod was born in New York City in 1946. He had an abusive childhood and a sever stutter. He became interested in the blues as he found that when singing he no longer stuttered. While living in St. Louis Macleod began playing acoustic country blues guitar and switched to bass when playing jazz or electric blues. He worked as a sideman for Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton and others. His mentor was George “Harmonica” Smith who nicknamed him ‘Dubb’. Smith even guested on MacLeod’s 1984 debut album “No Road Back Home” on Hightone Records. MacLeod only records his own songs and has written over 400. Many have been recorded by other artists including Dave Alvin, Eva Cassidy, Albert Collins, Albert King, Coco Montoya, Son Seals, and Joe Louis Walker.

MacLeod has been nominated for twenty-one Blues Music Awards including an amazing eleven years in a row for “Acoustic Artist of The Year”. Three of his songs were nominated “Song of The  Year”. In 2014 he won two BMA’s for 2013’s “There’s A Time” also on Reference Recordings. He  followed with 2015’s “Exactly Like This”, and 2016’s “Live In Europe” on the “Under The Radar”  imprint. He won “Acoustic Album of The Year” again in both 2016 and 2017. MacLeod’s 2022  release “A Soul To Claim” was a Downbeat Magazine Album of The Year. He followed up again  with 2024’s “Raw Blues 1” and 2025’s “Raw Blues 2”. This is MacLeod’s twenty-ninth studio  recording. He has won eight BMA’s overall.

MacLeod states “there’s blues here, humor here, and even a touch of soul, there’s a theme running through many of the songs here. I learned so much from my mentors. Not just the music. I learned about the thing we call life. I witnessed things I never knew existed. I believe the only way to pay them back is by doing my best to pass it on. The ensemble includes MacLeod, guitar and vocals; and The Funky Chester Rhythm Section of Mark T. Jordan, piano, Wurlitzer and  Hammond B3 organ; Paul Ossola, bass; Lynn Williams, drums and percussion; and  producer/acoustic guitarist Andreas Werner on two songs. The Shoals Sisters, Cindy Walker,  Marie Lewey, and Carla Russell, provide harmony vocals on three songs. The recording  engineer is Joe Funderburk. MacLeod uses two guitars, a Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, he calls  ‘P-Nut’ and a vintage Gibson C-100FE he calls “Little Bit”.

MacLeod considers Memphis his home, as he sings “Memphis In Your Soul”, “when you come  to Memphis, you can hear the music that started so long ago, if you do, you got Memphis in your soul”. The title track is about a lost highway, and an old soul, as MacLeod chimes “I got  something you might want to know, when you travel light, your riches live inside you, you can  travel with less, there’s a place between somewhere and goodbye”.

You can walk thru the darkness and eventually find love, on “Keep On Walkin’ On”, MacLeod  bursts out “there’s a place in another state, where you will find love, there’s a place, there’s a  light, in the night, so keep on walkin’, walkin’ on”, as Macleod lifts us up with his stunning voice.  Hope lives in “Hard Times”, as MacLeod cries “I woke up this morning, blues is all I see, hard  times over me, my paycheck is light, my car it ain’t right, I got a wife, I got kids, hard times, one day you ain’t gonna’ worry over me”.

MacLeod finds peace watching the river on “Roll Like A River” as he chants “I find me a river… so long, so long, I’m goin’ flow like a river to my soul, I look over yonder, there is a big yellow moon…so long, so long, I’m gonna’ roll like the river ’til I’m gone”. “I Ain’t No Stranger”, is a song  about a journey as MacLeod declares “I was thinking…I know this road will lead me to my soul, I was thinking ’til morning light, I’ve been a witness”, as he plays on the guitar he calls P-Nut.

“One Rib Short” is about the garden of Eden, as MacLeod shares “two kids fall in love in the garden of Eden, the snake told her take a taste from the tree, she took that advice, and she’s one rib short of gettin’ it right”. “The Seen And The Unseen” is inspired by Christine Smith, the  wife of George “Harmonica” Smith and a midwife, as MacLeod chirps, “I was thinking about a lady, when you look in her eye, she’s born blind, but she sees, she has ways to make you  wonder, she can reach inside your head, but she sees”.

You can love someone so much, that you’ll even let them go, on “Even Angels Get Too Sad To Fly” MacLeod howls “I’m lookin’ at you kid…it’s cold down here, it’s a short time for livin’, no need to tell me why, even angels get too sad to fly”, as MacLeod holds onto that high note.  On “I Don’t Like Your Chances”, MacLeod issues a warning about outside romances, “listen  real close, take my word to heart, if you got a good woman, don’t fool around, I hear you talkin’ but I don’t like your chances”, with Mark T. Jordan on piano. On the closer “Watching The Sun Go Down” MacLeod croons “watching the sun go down, I think about a woman, the cloud is driftin’ bye, no rain in sight, I hear the Cicadas softly humming, watchin’ the sun go down”.

MacLeod’s rhythmic guitar style, soulful voice and inspiring storytelling builds a unique bond with his audience. MacLeod thanks his manager Miki Mulvehill, and the folks from Reference  Recordings, Marcia Martin and Janice Mancuso. The album was recorded in January 2024, in Nashville, and is produced by Andreas Werner. I’m sure you’ll agree, MacLeod has left a  legacy that should carry the blues into the future, and onto others.

Richard Ludmerer

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