Ithaca Times Article 4/10/08
New Directions...Singer-Songwriter Trevor Macdonald Speaks About His New Album and Performing a Solo Artist
by: Bill Chaisson

Ever since Sunny Weather went its way I've been an immigrant wandering through different styles," admitted Trevor MacDonald. "Sunny Weather was pretty much a dance band, but Porchlight" - his previous album ­- "was an attempt to make a more intimate album." At his Lost Dog Lounge show this Saturday, Ithacans will get a chance to hear music from MacDonald's forthcoming album. Sunny Weather combined elements of reggae and zydeco, and Porchlight cultivated a more No Depression feel. But if the two new tracks available at his Myspace page are any indication, MacDonald has changed course yet again. "Porchlight was yin to the Sunny Weather yang," he said. "The new stuff goes down the middle. I missed making people want to dance." The new song "Woy Yoy" is instantly reminiscent of Joshua Tree-era U2, chiefly due to the delay effect used on the guitar throughout. "It's a cool way to make a rhythm," MacDonald explained. "They've 'trademarked' it, but it's not like anyone who chanks on a guitar is imitating Bob Marley." MacDonald's voice lacks Bono's soaring melodrama, but his lyrical approach is as contemplatively political. "In 'Woy Yoy' it's like we're fragile creatures and, you know, we forget that," he said. "The (delay-driven) rhythm communicates that to me." He tried to explain the lyric again. "It's like were in a herd of buffalo; some might fall and get crushed, but we all have to go ... we all have to go forward." The other new song, "Who U R," is more explicitly political. "Blue walls / Truck stalls / Strip malls / It's your America / Too many cars / You're at the bar / You're on the way / Get off your ass America." "This album is becoming a dialogue about 'intention'," MacDonald said. "You can do a lot of things, but your intention colors how you do it." His songwriting has been influenced by his experience talking to people around the country while touring. "The majority of people that we talk to are wonderful people," the songwriter said, "but there's a feeling that their access to information is a little ... sheltered, and they make decisions based on that." MacDonald wrote and made demo recordings for 90 songs in preparation for his forthcoming album. "I got it down to 40 and then the band has been messing around with 36," he said. "We'll eventually get it down to one album." The musician, who grew up on a farm in Perry City, described the songwriting process in terms of horticulture, "You plant seeds, see which ones sprout, see which ones bloom, and then which ones do really well, and you go with those." The collection is due for release this summer. He hopes to have it ready for the Grassroots Festival in July. "This band has been together for nearly a year and it's starting to feel exciting," said MacDonald, who made "Porchlight" with a large cast of local musicians. "We don't have to talk so much anymore; we just play music." The group includes Chris Predmore on bass, Jason Shegogue (pronounced 'shay-go') and, until recently, James Bowman on drums.
"James was the last Sunny Weather drummer," MacDonald said. "He's family, but he's an architect who lives in New York City, and now that we have a booking agent and a manager, we're touring more and it's not workable." MacDonald said that Bowman will continue to play with the band intermittently, but they are auditioning new drummers. The band circles back to Ithaca on a regular basis, but over the next month it is scheduled to make week-long excursions down the East Coast to North Carolina and out to Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. On Friday, April 25, they will play at the 35th anniversary party of the Rongovian Embassy in Trumansburg, but the chance to see them in a more intimate setting will be this Saturday. They will be alternating sets at the Lost Dog Lounge on South Cayuga St. with Donna the Buffalo's Jeb Puryear, who released a solo album in December. MacDonald, who is 27, went on tour as a roadie for Donna the Buffalo and Rusted Root when he was a teenager. "I didn't realize I would fall in love with going out and playing shows," he laughed. He has been working full-time as a musician for about a year. "Musicians in this culture ... you're not legit. It's like 'You don't have a job at Cornell?' People love the music, but don't respect the idea of following that path. I don't understand how people could not do it." MacDonald likened the musician's life to that of an explorer. "Ernest Shackleton never really made it to the South Pole, and he tried three times. He just had the bug," he laughed. "I feel fortunate that I have a goal and I want to work toward it. If you're lucky enough, you can bring your friends along." The Trevor MacDonald Band will perform at the Lost Dog Lounge this Saturday, April 12 as part of WVBR's Crossing Borders program. The show will begin at 8pm.