Doug MacLeod A Soul To Claim (CD)

(Reference Recordings) 12 tracks

Reference Recordings is proud to present the fifth album from singer, songwriter, engaging storyteller and masterful guitarist Doug MacLeod. For A Soul To Claim, Doug worked with legendary producer and engineer Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller Band) at Gaines' studio in East Tennessee, not far from Doug's new home on the Mississippi River in Memphis.

Like the old masters who taught him, MacLeod's music expresses life and time through an elusive quality that may simply be a fine sense of what's important. "There's humor in my songs, but also messages about how to cope with life. That's what I learned from the ancients."

On the twelve new MacLeod originals, Doug and his trusty Waterloo guitar Pnut are joined by Memphis studio veterans Rick Steff (keyboards), Dave Smith (bass) and Steve Potts (drums) on five tracks; Doug is heard alone on six, and one is a solo instrumental. Doug MacLeod and Deems Taylor Award-winning journalist Dan Forte (Vintage Guitar) provide liner notes for this release.

Doug MacLeod sees it this way, "Blues is about the journey, it's about speaking honestly from the heart. It's a music of hope. No matter what cards you've been dealt - either the cards you started with in this life or the cards you're holding now - if it's not a good hand, you can overcome it."

A Soul To Claim is Doug's 22nd album and has received multiple Blues Music Award nominations, including Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year.

"I hope I make you laugh, cry, think. But most of all, I hope I make you feel, because that's what this music is all about."