Doug MacLeod - There's A Time (2013) [Hi-Res]

"Understanding the importance of restraint to the blues, he skirts the predictable with fresh imagery in lyrics and his music is barb-wire sharp." — Down Beat Magazine

Doug MacLeod is a unique, powerful guitarist with a rich and soulful voice, singing original songs based on his own life and experiences. This is "Genuine Original Acoustic Music" at its very best.

There are 13 new MacLeod originals highlighting this richly detailed recording by Grammy-winning engineer Keith Johnson, done at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, Calif. This trio performance features Doug's longtime bassist Denny Croy and Jimi Bott, one of the most recorded, awarded and respected blues drummers in the world. Doug also uses four strikingly different-sounding guitars: three National Reso-Phonic instruments, including a 12-string, and his old Gibson C-100, the guitar he calls "Little Bit" because each time he plays her a little bit more of her falls off!

Besides the release on HDCD, Reference Recordings, acclaimed for their high-quality audio recordings, plans to also release the new album on a 200-gram vinyl double LP set, half-speed mastered and pressed at Quality Record Pressings!

"Making this album was different than any other one I've done in the past," recalls MacLeod, about the sessions for There's A Time. "They put Jimi, Denny and me on this huge soundstage at Skywalker Sound in Marin County and we sat around in a circle where we could see each other. We played live, no overdubs, just three guys playing some music together. Simply put, Jimi and Denny are two of the finest musicians I have ever had the pleasure to make music with."

A perennial Blues Music Award nominee, 2014 saw MacLeod rewarded for his musical excellence on There's A Time. At the awards ceremony May 8 in Memphis, MacLeod received the awards for Best Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year. Congratulations Doug!

Doug has a unique, unorthodox and powerfully rhythmic acoustic guitar style. The other element of Doug's style is his remarkable ability as a storyteller, another trademark of the classic itinerant blues musician. Listening to the songs on There's A Time is like attending a master class on storytelling, as MacLeod weaves tales that are visceral, insightful and often humorous (as on the songs, "My In-laws Are Outlaws," "St. Elmo's Rooms and Pool" and "Dubb's Talkin' Religion Blues."