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Soundations Music Reviews 10/19/99
by Greg Allen
Into The Blue - Rod MacDonald
(Gadfly)
Perhaps the prime mover of the reborn Greenwich Village
folk music scene, Rod MacDonald's latest has a pronounced
Florida accent, a Sunshine State of mind, if you will.
Rod has made my best-of-the-year list in the past. And
with Into The Blue,he once again delivers a bumper crop of
mellow and up-tempo modern folk tunes, tunes with passion
and insight.
One of MacDonald's biggest strengths comes from his
concise verbal pictures. Like Lennon and Ray Davies, he has
the ability to allow the listener to fill in the blanks when
appropriate.
As for the Gator-based odes, for those of us who live in
Florida or wish we did, Rod rhapsodizes artfully about the
lower key aspect of the place. Of particular note is
"Aucilla River," a song that deals with one of Florida's
overlooked treasures. (In fact, just a few hours before
writing this column, I parked my car by the Aucilla, just to
watch it flow so slooooow).
Other Gator and non-Gator greats are "I Have No Problem
With This," the beautiful ballad that merits being covered
by Eric Clapton or Bonnie Raitt, "Best Defense" and "Here's
A Song For You," a track about a parent watching and
advising at a wedding. It is a song that many a bride and
groom should spin at their matrimonial Mardi gras.
Rod MacDonald is an intelligent composer and a smooth,
effective singer. And few folk CDs are better than this!
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**w/Tracy Sands (thru Sat.)
For full concert calendar, 
