Rod MacDonald

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Rod MacDonald
Rod MacDonald, Bull Run Concert Series, Shirley MA. June 7, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Roderick Owen MacDonald
Born	(1948-08-17) August 17, 1948 (age 75) Southington, Connecticut, United States
Origin	Greenwich Village, New York City
Genres	Folk, folk rock
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Years active	1973–current
Website	www.rodmacdonald.com

Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator.^[1] He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs",^[2] performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwriter's Exchange" at the Cornelia Street Cafe. He co-founded the Greenwich Village Folk Festival, now a non-profit, and is still the President and co-producer of its events. He is perhaps best known for his songs "American Jerusalem", about the "contrast between the rich and the poor in Manhattan" (Sing Out!), "A Sailor's Prayer", "Coming of the Snow", "Every Living Thing", and "My Neighbors in Delray", a description of the September 11 hijackers' last days in Delray Beach, Florida, where MacDonald has lived since 1995. His songs have been covered by Dave Van Ronk, Shawn Colvin, Four Bitchin' Babes, Jonathan Edwards, Garnet Rogers, Joe Jencks, and others. His 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. 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^[3] and reached the top ten in national roots music charts. His first novel, The Open Mike, about a young man in the open mike scene of Greenwich Village, was published on December 5, 2014, by Archway Publishing.^[4] On December 10, 2020, MacDonald released his 13th solo recording, Boulevard, on Blue Flute Music.^[5] On April 14, 2021, his second novel, The American Guerillas, was published by Archway Publications. On June 1, 2023, MacDonald's 14th solo album, Rants And Romance, a collection of 14 new songs and 3 by other songwriters, was released by Blue Flute Music,^[6] charting in the top ten on national folk music charts during the summer.