Best known as the drummer for the Australian folk group the Waifs, David Ross MacDonald revealed a different side of his musical persona on his 2003 debut solo album, Southern Crossing, a collection of original fingerstyle guitar instrumentals.
His most recent album is a further revelation, showcasing his substantial skills as a singer-songwriter.
MacDonald's vocals, lyrics, and intricate fingerstyle guitar playing bring to mind a collaboration between Nick Drake and a mid-1970s Bruce Cockburn. Like the latter, MacDonald's well constructed songs often use imagery drawn from nature, oceans and forests, in particular, but unlike Cockburn, MacDonald occasionally portrays the natural world as an unpredictable and potentially threatening realm. In 'The Pearl,' an epic tale of two pearl-diving brothers ends in tragedy, and in 'Cannery Row,' seven lives are lost to an ocean storm.
Ross' lyrics are dark and thoughtful, and in combination with his hypnotic fingerstyle guitar work, they create evocative songs with a haunting, poignant quality
Ahh crap, I'm a folk singer type person
