The Mighty Tackhead

Bought For a Dollar, Sold For a Dime, a live album Little Axe style, hints at God-given greatness, nonetheless. McDonald might not have sold his soul at the crossroads, but he’s looked both ways – down the road of the old blues, up the highway of the future – before proceeding. McDonald recorded the album live at Real World's state-of-the-art facilities. With of course the usual suspects Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc, Bernard Fowler and Adrian Sherwood, but also with the help of Saranella Ball, Kevin Gibbs, Alan Glenn, The Crispy Horns, Ken Booth and Cyril Atef. “We played as if we were doing a gig with an audience,” McDonald explains. The colours, the feeling, the rhythm - everything matched. I always say there are only two kinds of music. The music you like and the music you don’t like. I only make music I love.” Before starting work on Bought For a Dollar… he listened to a lot of his favourites. “I always do my research. I go through everyone from Beethoven, Skip James and Charlie Parker to Janis Joplin, Howling Wolf and Son House. In terms of feeling and emotion there’s nothing that’s said now that hasn’t been said before.” He pauses, smiles. “A lot of times I think people try and create the wheel again when you just have to do enough research. It’s better to work hard than wait for divine inspiration.” “I see myself as a time traveller,” Skip McDonald says. “I started out live and went into studio culture. I’ve gone all the way back and come full circle, though this time I’ve got the advantage of technology as well. Hey, I’m even doing covers of my own songs. It’s all part of the same puzzle.”

“I understand the blues better now that I’m older,” he continues. “But doing this album…” He flashes a grin. “This album has made me feel young again.”

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