"Liam Macdonald's 'Verge' is an absolute gem, which you really need to hear. For once eclectic is not a dirty word."
~ Zeitgeist Magazine
Verge is the first solo CD from musician and songwriter Liam Macdonald. Produced by veteran performer Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth, The Contribution, The Blue Sparks), Verge has received numerous awards from Billboard as well as the "Record of the Year" award from Radio Six International in Scotland. The following quotes are from the reviews:
"an absolute gem, which you really need to hear - an aural treat by any standards - should be all over the radio - captivating - fascinating - multi-dimensional - mightily impressed by a new talent - Liam's guitar work is stunning, his singing superb - a great sense of rhythm - his rich, deep voice brings out another dimension from the songs - jangle-tastic - tumultuous and satisfying - VERY cool - richly creative -these songs are anything but dull"
Reviewers have also noted that the songs on Verge are quite different from one another. (E.g. Contrast "Smiling Faces" or "Please Tell Me" with "Man Woman Child" or "nemOmen.") Writing for The British Independent Record Dealers' Magazine, critic Chris Tighe described the variations this way: "Verge really ought to be incoherent, incomprehensible and unapproachable. It is, of course, none of the above. A triumph of instinct over logic, then."
Liam is currently recording a series of singles in Copenhagen and Munich with Alain Nkossi Konda, the multi-talented Founder of Afrikool Records. So far, the following songs from these "Copenhagen Sessions" have received awards from Billboard and other international songwriting competitions: "City of Trees," "In an Open Space," "You Can Never Tell" and "Black and You" (a.k.a. on iTunes as "Black&You" and in retail stores and websites in Asia as both "Black Y You" and "Balck & You").
Black&You is included on an Afrikool Records' release titled "For Africa Vol. 1." Both the CD and the single are available on iTunes (click on the iTunes link on the left hand-side of this page). Proceeds from For Africa Vol. 1 are being donated to these five charities: The Water Foundation; IFAM; The Shaken Baby Alliance; Amnesty International and Sens Afrique. The other performers who contributed to For Africa Vol. 1 are: Gilberto Gil; Lou Bega; Kanda Bongo Man; Selasee Atiase; Zani; Zifa; Manu Di Bango; Alain Nkossi Konda; K.I.F.; Jim Savitt; Muna Mingole; Micko Leao; Bless; Mr. Reo.
Special thanks for their work on Verge goes to multi-instrumentalists Andy Goessling, Tim Carbone and Buck Dilly and also to guitarist Moris Tepper (PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Frank Black) and his band from California. On the tech side we would like to thank sound engineer Don Sternecker and also Fred Kevorkian who did the mastering, just as he has done for Phish, Sonic Youth, Dave Matthews, The White Stripes, Lou Reed, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J, Ryan Adams and more.
The following is a complete list of who performed on Verge: LIAM MACDONALD: guitar, lead vocals, songwriter TIM CARBONE: violin, back-up vocals, harmonium, harmonica, kaen, Tibetan singing bowls, hand percussion ANDY GOESSLING: saxophones, 12 string guitar, guitar, marxophone, wood flute, oboe BUCK DILLY: guitar, pedal-steel, lap-steel and banjo, Hammond B3 organ JAMES GILHEANY: bass DAVE MOORE: drums ROBERT MATARAZZO: back-up vocals JOHN SKEHAN: piano MORIS TEPPER: guitar (3) DAVID BURK: bass and mini-Moog (3) SCOTT MATHERS: drums and percussion (3) DAVE von DOLLEN: bass (2) CAREY HARMON: drums (2) NED STROH: hand percussion (4) GARY GEORGETTE: synthesizer marimbas and organ (2) MATTHEW SCHERTZ: Indian drums - utar (4) kanjira (6) A.J. FAAS: African talking drum
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