Brief Description

Born and raised in a small Connecticut town, Rod MacDonald graduated from the University of Virginia and Columbia Law University, the latter under the Navy's JAG Program. While in the US Navy's officer training school in Newport, Rhode Island, he began singing professionally at a local waterfront bar. Returning to New York, Rod knew his true passion was to be a professional musician, and in 1972, his request for an honorable discharge as a conscientous objector was granted.

Rod became one of Greenwich Village's leading singer/songwriters during the 1970s/80s, performing frequently at Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, and Folk City. He toured extensively in the U.S. and abroad, performing at major international festivals such as the Straznice Festival in the new Czech Republic, where he performed for an audience of 10,000.

Rod has recorded 9 cds of original songs in the U.S. and Europe, and continues touring. Now residing in south Florida, he is a frequent state festival and club performer, and is a music instructor with Florida Atlantic University's Lifelong Learning Program, conducting a lecture/performance course on the history of music.

Born and raised in a small Connecticut town, Rod MacDonald is an American folk singer/songwriter. His songs have been covered by Dave Van Ronk, Christine Lavin, Garnet Rogers and other music notables. He graduated from the University of Virginia and Columbia Law School, but during his final year in law school, he decided to pursue his first love, a career in music.

Rod was a major part of the 1980s Greenwich Village folk renaissance, co-founded the Greenwich Village Folk Festival, and performed frequently at popular clubs like the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, and Folk City.

He is perhaps best known for signature songs that have become classics, such as the timeless, "American Jerusalem", about the "contrast between the rich and the poor in Manhattan" (SingOut!), "Sailor's Prayer", "Coming of the Snow" and "Every Living Thing."

Rod has been performing internationally for more than 35 years, and has released 9 albums in the U.S. and Europe. Considered a modern day folk singer, his genre-defying music transcends the typical folk genre, straying into blues, light jazz, Americana, and strains of country. Influenced by early Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Roy Orbison, Rod is regarded as a prolific songwriter and a gifted vocalist. His music embraces his obvious passion and personal commitment to communicating political and social events that effect and shape our world's societies, and clearly demonstrates his reverence for all living things.

In recent years he has also been an instructor for Florida Atlantic University's Lifelong Learning Program, conducting lecture and performance series on the history of music.