Who you Are (Trevor MacDonald Band)
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Who you Are (Trevor MacDonald Band)

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The best kept secret in music

Press


"he's one to keep an eye on."

www.trevormacdonald.com The eclectic, Americana-tinged Porch Light is the debut release from Ithaca, NY native Trevor MacDonald. On the album's better songs, MacDonald emulates alt.country stalwarts such as Ryan Adams and Bobby Bare, Jr. ("The Highways" [REAL AUDIO CLIP] could be an outtake from Whiskeytown's Pneumonia sessions and you'll swear that "Porch Light" [REAL AUDIO CLIP] appeared on Young Criminals' Starvation League.) Although the disc contains a handful of solid tracks, MacDonald's eclecticism does get the better of him at times. "Seven Blind Beats" with its jazzy blather, and "No Re-Entry" with its Jimmy Buffet inspired percussion are non-starters. While it seems Mr. MacDonald couldn't decide exactly what kind of album to make this time out, he's one to keep an eye on. - Cheezeball.net


"Buzz (recommends)"

Greater-Ithaca's veteran Sunny Weather frontman Trevor MacDonald incorporates a signature blend of roots-rock, zydeco/reggae, country and folk in his deeply-emotional 11-track solo offering. Richly produced and orchestrated, Porch Light is a poetic testament to the rural-American experience and a lamenting, lonely, pining plea to lost loves with a pedal steel/accordion/banjo/ fiddle scrub board/ accompaniment and smooth vocal harmonies. Narrative and playful one moment, hauntingly sad the next, MacDonald's work has certain Vic Chestnut-meets-Dylan-meets-Springsteen-meets-Michael Stipe quality that demands independent-film-soundtrack inclusion (Dear Darlin will one day be the theme song to a very, very sad movie: one that will make Leaving Las Vegas seem more like National Lampoons Vacation). The verse of the upbeat Take Your Places is reminiscent of Country Joe & the fish’s I Feel Like I’m Fixin to Die Rag that it seems to beg the question: are country Joe MacDonald and Trevor MacDonald possibly related? In an apparent effort to draw from the entire spectrum of musical genres and influences, Porch Light even features a Hip-Hop esque ditty entitled Seven Blind Beats; it’s the story of how G- Love got together with Cake on a Roots/folk album with intention of confusing the hell out of everybody. Porch Light is groove-intensive, Amber-Waves of Grain-level-Americana, Featuring some very talented players and top shelf production value: well-worth checking out. - The BUZZ


"Top Ten"

his latest Album Porch Light on I-Town Records has recieved radio play and reviews from the Netherlands all the way to Australia and was one of the top ten releases of 2005
The Ithaca Journal - The Ithaca Journal


"Solo Flight"

“MacDonald reveals another side of himself: the songs are more introverted and breathe the influence of Ryan Adams, Bonnie Prince Billy, and And Crow Greenspun”
Jairo Van Lunteren-
- Ithaca times


"The salt creek show"

I'm one of the hosts of the Salt Creek show, and was lucky enough to
discover your fantastic, sumptuous album , It's clearly a
real labor of love, and I can't get it out of my CD player.
Armin Heurich, Ithaca NY
- 93.5 WVBR


"Porch Light"

Porch Light 3½ stars

www.heaven.be
Belgium - Heavon POP Magazine


"Te gevarieerd solodebout Trevor MacDonald "

Trevor MacDonald - Porch Light - I-Town Records IT-052

Hij is de frontman van de rootsrock zydecoband Sunny Weather en schrijft al jaren zijn eigen liedjes. Nu is zijn eerste soloplaat uit, met een eigen visie op americana. Porch Light heet dit album van Trevor MacDonald en het herbergt een gevarieerde mix van countryachtige nummers, doorspekt met rockinvloeden en een klein vleugje zydeco.
De 11 nummers duren samen een kleine drie kwartier. Trevor MacDonald heeft zoveel materiaal geschreven dat hij wel meerdere albums vol zou kunnen maken, maar heeft toch een selectie gemaakt van liedjes die het gehaald hebben voor dit solo-debuut. Zijn stem is ietwat hees, met af en toe wat rafeligs, en ligt lekker in het gehoor. De liedjes vind ik daarentegen niet zo boeiend. Er zit hier en daar wel wat leuks in (Jumping Out Of Gear is een heel prettig nummer en Tom Sawyer Blues begint met een fijn fiddle-introotje), maar over het geheel genomen word ik onrustig van deze cd. De pedal steel is wat mij betreft net iets teveel van het goede en er blijft weinig hangen van de muziek. Pluspunt is de variatie, maar dat is ook weer net te, waardoor het album meer op een soort verzamelaar lijkt. Zo heeft Seven Blind Beats iets van rap en hiphop, waar een nummer als California vaag en wat zweverig aandoet. De teksten zijn vooral gebaseerd op het dagelijks leven van de artiest, er wordt veel in gereisd en het showelement is goed vertegenwoordigd. Ook ontbreekt de liefde niet als thema, met de vraag of de geliefde terug wil komen in Dear Darlin.

Porch Light is aan mij niet echt besteed, maar Trevor MacDonald laat wel horen een veelzijdig artiest te zijn. Hij is niet bang om uitstapjes te maken naar andere muzieksoorten en dat maakt het toch nog een beetje interessant.

Mirjam Adriaans, waardering: 6,5
the Netherlands
- www.folkforum.nl


Discography

Porch Light LP
http://www.trevormacdonald.com/music/newrecordsample.m3u

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

BIO-
In the days before the time when the oceans drank atlantis, men and women banged rocks and sticks to make a joyful noise. Following in the traditions of the ancients a man and his guitar have expanded upon the original horizons of Roots music. Let me tell of the days of high adventure...

“If you are discovering this burgeoning talent for the first time, you'll find a truly creative songwriter of intellect, sensitivity, and youthful audacity.” Chloe Mills -Latin Teacher

In 1993, at the age of 13, a fire completely wiped out the MacDonald family farmhouse and the farm was subsequently lost. The MacDonalds loaded into a truck bound for a new life in California. To escape the rigors of agriculture, under the scorching California sun, young Trevor began to play, write and compose his first songs on a guitar given to him by a family friend. A legend was born...

“Trevor MacDonald has been a key player in the Ithaca Music scene for the past decade” Jim Catalano- Ithaca Journal

At the age of 16 he returned to the east (a trip chronicled in his solo album Porchlight) and took work with the roots-rock pioneers, Donna the Buffalo. A year later, he made his first recording in Arlington, VA. His eponymous album Evil Genius displayed his diamond-in-the-rough talent. That same year Sunny Weather was formed and spent seven years traveling over 100,000 miles and performing over 500 shows. The road became his home…

“On “Porch Light”, his first solo release, the gravelly alt-country singer-songwriter lets a life time on the road and in the fields give his tunes an honest, rootsy feel that hard to find and harder to fake.” Editor’s picks ABC News

Trevor’s last album “Porch Light” on I-Town Records and Itunes - has received extensive radio play and rave reviews in the Netherlands and Australia. Trevor has also performed with the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show, The Waifs, John Anderson, The Avett Brothers, Tift Merrit, Odetta, Ramblin Jack Elliot, and Rusted Root. His music has been featured on MTV and NPR. With the taste of fame upon his lips…

With the exuberance of Sunny Weather and the dreaminess of Trevor’s solo work The Trevor MacDonald Band brings americana to new heights. Chris Predmore (bass) has been playing with Trevor since 1996 and James Bowman (drums) since 2002 with the welcome addition of Jason Shegogue (guitar) in 2007. The latest chapter in the Trevor MacDonald sound has begun…

“Here we have a demonstration of economy in writing and the result is delightful.” Mark Phillips – Americana UK

Discography:

Trevor MacDonald Porch Light* I-Town Records 2005
Sunny Weather
EP I-Town Records 2002 Sunny Weather The Frontlines I-Town Records 2001
Sunny Weather Red Is The Color I-Town Records 2000
Sunny Weather Self Titled I-Town Records 1999
Trevor MacDonald Evil Genius** Impetus 1996

*Voted Top Ten Releases: Ithaca Journal

**independently recorded on cassette in Arlington VA. Modesto: Best Song of the Year D.C. Magazine

Compilations:

United States of Americana Vol.5 Shut Eye Records 2007
United States of Americana Vol.4 Shut Eye Records 2006
I-Town Records Compilation Vol.1-4 I-Town Records 2000-6

Production:

Urban Horse Thieves Tumbleweed I-Town Records 2007
Me and Juge Stretching Stones Ithaca Records 2007
The Sim Redmond Band Each New Day I-Town/Buffalo 2006