Rod MacDonald performing at the Florida Folk Festival in 2001
Rod MacDonald with Donna Green-Townsend
Rod MacDonald performing at the Will McLean Folk Festival in 2012
Singer/songwriter and educator Rod MacDonald‘s name is synonymous with the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs in New York City. He’s a graduate of the Columbia Law School. Following law school he joined the staff of Newsweek magazine, but his heart was really in music, choosing to write and sing about today’s issues through song. In the 1990s he gained national stature performing at folk festivals and coffeehouses around the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He currently lives in Delray Beach, FL.
Donna Green-Townsend has this profile of singer songwriter Rod MacDonald who’s not afraid to tackle social and political issues through song.
In March, 2014 MacDonald asked several other musicians and the audience at the Will McLean Folk Festival to join him in a tribute to the late Pete Seeger:
Here’s a 21 minute 13 second radio special with Rod MacDonaldrecorded before a Gainesville performance a few years after 9/11 which includes his songs, “My Neighbors In Delray,” “American Jerusalem,” and “The Man Who Dropped The Bomb on Hiroshima” in their entirety.
Rod MacDonald performing a funny, yet provocative song about pythons taking over the Everglades. (Recorded at the 2017 Will McLean Music Festival)
And one of MacDonald’s recent political songs called, “I’d Love To Be Wrong.”
Rod MacDonald in an interview before performing at the Theatre of Memory in High Springs
Gainesville singer songwriter Tom Shed loves to write and sing about Florida. He was influenced by the late Don Grooms, a Florida Heritage Award Winner, when he was one of Grooms’ student in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Shed says he likes to write and sing about, “history, humor and the human condition.” He talked with WUFT’s Donna Green-Townsend about the 60th Annual Florida Folk Festival in 2012.
Tom Shed produced Don Grooms’ “Walk Proud My Son” CD
Singer songwriter and musician Tom Shed played a pivotal role in helping Don Grooms produce his CD “Walk Proud.” In this special, which aired in the late 90s, Shed talks about why this project was so special. You’ll also hear many of Don Grooms’ best songs.
Retired wildlife biologist with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission Dale Crider has been penning songs about the environment since the 1970s. He’s written songs about everything from the dam on the Ocklawaha River and the status of the Everglades to manatees, alligators and panthers.
Here’s Dale singing one of his most famous songs, “Apalachicola Doin’ Time,” on the main stage of the Will McLean Folk Festival in April (2014). Joining him is Red Henry on fiddle and mandolin, Barbara Johnson on bass and John Hedgecoth on banjo.
Watch and listen to one of his newest songs about sinkholes below:
Dale Crider has been writing songs about Florida’s environment for more than 40 years. Much of his time with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission was spent in South Florida. It was there that Dale felt compelled to do an educational CD for motorists crossing the Florida Everglades. Hear about this special project in this report from Donna Green-Townsend which aired nationally on the public radio program Marketplace.
Dale’s Everglades CD project on Florida Public Radio
Dale with Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen remembering their friend Gamble Rogers
Dale was a special guest on the longtime Sunday afternoon program on WUFT, Across the Prairie, to talk about the re-release of the Apalachicola Doin’ Time Documentary with host Cathy DeWitt and documentary co-producer, Donna Green-Townsend.
Dale and other musicians perform Apalachicola Doin’ Time finale at the Florida Folk Festival in 2000
Dale says he was inspired to write about Florida after hearing Will McLean, the Father of Florida Folk, perform at the Florida Folk Festival in the 1970s. He talked about that songwriting inspiration in a feature produced by Donna Green-Townsend that aired on WUFT-FM in April of 1987.
1998 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in 1988
Dale Crider, Lis Williamson and Barbara Johnson performing at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1998
Sec. of State Sandra Mortham presenting Gamble’s wife Nancy with the Artists Hall of Fame Award
In 1998 Dale along with musicians Lis Williamson (guitar and vocals) and Barbara Johnson (bass) performed the song, “I Remember Gamble Rogers” on the main stage of the Florida Folk Festival. It was part of the official state ceremony inducting Gamble Rogersinto the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. (the song was written by Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen).
One of Dale’s more entertaining wildlife songs is called, “Gospel Snakes.” Here’s his performance of the song at the 2014 Will McLean Folk Festival. He’s joined by Red Henry on fiddle and mandolin, Barbara Johnson on bass and John Hedgecoth on banjo:
In recent years Dale has focused his songwriting on the importance of utilizing energy that doesn’t come from fossil fuel….in other words, solar energy. Here’s his song about that issue performed at the Will McLean Folk Festival in March, 2014. He’s accompanied by Red Henry on mandolin, Barbara Johnson on bass and John Hedgecoth on banjo.
