Patrick Lee "Pat" MacDonald (born August 6, 1952) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the singer, guitarist, and main songwriter for
Timbuk 3
Timbuk 3 was an American rock band which released six original studio albums between 1986 and 1995. They are best known for their Top 20 single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades". The band's music has been featured on more than 20 c ...
, nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
in 1987. He formed the duo with his wife,
Barbara K. MacDonald, in
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
in 1984 before moving to
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, that same year. Their breakup in 1995 spurred a solo career that has steadily produced releases in both Europe and the US. "MacDonald is long known for his playful, edgy songs," says ''
Guitar Player
''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and politica ...
'' magazine (May 2007, p. 38).
Recording career
Songwriting credits include collaborations with
Cher,
Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
,
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music.
Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...
,
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...
of
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...
,
Peter Frampton, and Japanese composer
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...
. Songs he has written, or co-written, have been recorded by
Aerosmith,
Oysterhead
Oysterhead is an American rock supergroup featuring bassist Les Claypool of Primus, guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police, with both Claypool and Anastasio providing vocals. The band's eclectic sound ha ...
,
Cher,
Jools Holland,
Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...
,
Night Ranger
Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...
,
Zucchero
Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teach ...
and others, and have appeared in movies from the controversial horror classic ''
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (also known as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2'') is a 1986 American black comedy slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper. It is a sequel to ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'', also directed and co-written by Ho ...
'' (1986) with
Dennis Hopper, to ''
Tommy Boy
''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy adventure comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and Davi ...
'' (1995) starring
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...
.
MacDonald and his friend and collaborator,
Eric McFadden
Eric McFadden (born December 1, 1965) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter from San Francisco.
He spent his formative years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, receiving lessons from Stanton Hirsch. During his mid-teens, he moved to Syrac ...
, record and perform as the gothic-country duo, The Legendary Sons of Crack Daniels. He performed and toured as Purgatory Hill with Milwaukee singer and songwriter Melaniejane.
In 2005, he co-founded
Steel Bridge Songfest Steel Bridge Songfest ("Steel Bridge" for short) is an annual, four-day music festival held in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Founded in 2005 by musician Pat MacDonald the event began as part of a grass-roots campaign to restore a historic bridge. The f ...
, an annual not-for-profit
benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...
and songwriting
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival ...
held in his current hometown of
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 Census. The city is well-known regionally for being the largest city of the Door Peninsula, after which the county is n ...
.
Solo album discography
* ''Pat MacDonald Sleeps With His Guitar'' (Ark 21), (1997)
* ''Begging Her Graces'' (Ulftone), (1999)
* ''Degrees of Gone'' (Ulftone), (2001)
* ''Strange Love: PM Does DM'' (Ulftone), (2003)
* ''In the Red Room'' (DarkPresents), (2004)
* ''Troubadour of Stomp'' (Broken Halo), (2007)
* ''In the Red Room'' re-release (SB United) (2008)
* ''Purgatory Hill'' self-release (2009)
* ''The Ragged, Jagged Way Back Home'' self-release (2019)
* ''Strange Love: pm does dm'' (Chronological Records) (2021)
References
* Ferber, Lawrence 2000
'Unbelievable: Catching up with Cher as she releases one album online and prepares for the follow-up to "Believe"' ''Frontiers Magazine''
* Huyck, Ed 2007
''Door County Magazine Online''
* ''Isthmus'' 2007
'Sons of Crack Daniels, Jane Wiedlin with Whore du Jour, Chris Aaron, Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons, Skintones'* Moore, Andy 2007, 'Stomping The Chords of Fame', ''No Depression'', no. 67, 20–21.
* Prasad, Anil 2004
Innerviews.org
* Prasad, Anil 2007
'Pat MacDonald' ''Guitar Player Magazine''
* O'Reilly, Ned 2005
'Pat MacDonald live review' ''Lumino Magazine''
* The Night Eagle Cafe
Binghamton, NY.
External links
*
MySpace(Sons of) Crack Daniels MySpace pageSteel Bridge Songfest official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Pat
1952 births
Living people
American male singers
American rock singers
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
Musicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin
Musicians from Madison, Wisconsin
American new wave musicians
People from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
Timbuk3 members