Alice Howe & Freebo and Rod MacDonald| Friday, Feb. 06, 8 p.m. | Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tickets: $22 members; $27 not-yet-members; $13 students (13+)
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Alice Howe & Freebo have undeniable chemistry. Rock bass legend Freebo weaves his fretless stylings into Alice’s soulful, impeccably-tuned vocals for a harmony-driven performance showcasing two uniquely compelling songwriters. Their latest album Alice Howe & Freebo Live is their first release as a duo, and it debuted as the #1 Most Played Album on the Folk Radio Chart.
Best known for his ten years playing bass with Bonnie Raitt, Freebo has toured and recorded with some of the greatest artists of his generation, including John Mayall, Ringo Starr, Crosby Stills & Nash, Maria Muldaur, and Dr. John. For the past twenty-five years, he’s been writing and performing his own original music. Alice Howe is a lifelong singer and songwriter beginning to make a name for herself, and recently had the honor of being named Best Female Artist at the International Acoustic Music Awards. Freebo and Alice have been working as a duo since 2017, and he produced her latest record Circumstance, recorded at iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Rod MacDonald
Rod MacDonald has been called “One of the best singer-songwriters to ever come out of the New York movement” by Dave Van Ronk, longtime Greenwich Village folksinger and mentor to the likes of Bob Dylan. Named one of the “Ten Best South Florida Folksingers Of All Time” by New Times after moving to Florida in the 1990s, he’s still going strong: his 2023 cd Rants And Romance made the top ten on US folk music charts in the summer of 2023, and was the most-played cd in July on the international internet station FolkmusicNotebook.com.
Born and raised in Connecticut, MacDonald was a trombonist before switching to guitar, inspired by 1960s folksingers and rock and roll. He got a writer’s education as a reporter for Newsweek and a degree from Columbia Law School; already singing in New York City when he graduated, he was a “big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village” (Allmusic.com), headlining clubs and recording 21 songs for the Smithsonian/Fast Folk collection and his first solo albums, 14 in all. A co-founder of The Greenwich Village Folk Festival, he’s continued touring ever since, appearing in many top folk festivals and concerts throughout North America, Europe and Australia. And his songs, such as White Buffalo and American Jerusalem, have been recorded by Shawn Colvin, Garnet Rogers, Joe Jencks, Four Bitchin’ Babes, Happy Traum, Jonathan Edwards, and others; A Sailor’s Prayer has been recorded by dozens of sea shanty and Ren-Fair bands.
MacDonald’s guitar style, from driving strums to quiet fingerpicking, supports the fine tenor voice Stereo Review once called ” a combination of gravel and smoothness,” adding “and his songs are not only perceptive and linguistically rich, but touched with grace.” Ft. Lauderdale, FL’s Labyrinth Café, where MacDonald sang for many years, lauded “his personal commitment to communicating events that have affected and shaped our world’s societies…..Rod’s songs will stay in your heart and mind long after the music has ended.” All Music Guide has called him “one of the most politically and socially aware lyricists of our time.” And in 2023, Lee Zimmerman wrote in Goldmine of Rants And Romance: “The material is pointed and prophetic, with melodies that ring, resonate and make emphatic impressions…..MacDonald’s rallying cries not only deserve to be heard, but to be heeded as well.” MacDonald’s joined on tour by bassist Mark Dann, who co-produces his albums (and those of more than 200 other artists) and is renowned for his improvisational style, often playing lead solos with MacDonald.
Now in his 50th year of making music, MacDonald says he thinks “My concerts are still getting better. I have a lot to learn.” This year he’s touring the northeast US and Europe, and will have plenty of chances.
