Reference Recordings is proud to present our fifth album with the prolific singer, songwriter, engaging storyteller, and masterful guitarist, Doug MacLeod. For A Soul To Claim, Doug teamed with legendary producer and engineer Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller Band) in Gaines’s East Tennessee studio, not far from Doug’s new home on the Mississippi River in Memphis.

Like the old masters who taught him, MacLeod’s music expresses life and times through an elusive quality that may simply be a keen sense of what matters most. “There’s humor in my songs, but also messages on how to make it through this life. That’s what I learned from the old guys.”

Through twelve new MacLeod originals, Doug and his trusty Waterloo guitar Pnut are joined by Memphis studio veterans Rick Steff/keyboards, Dave Smith/bass, and Steve Potts/drums for five tracks, six tracks feature Doug alone and one is a solo instrumental. Liner notes from Doug MacLeod and Deems Taylor award-winning journalist Dan Forte (Vintage Guitar), provide liner notes for the release.

The way Doug sees it, “Blues is about the journey, it’s about speaking honestly from your heart. It’s a music of hope. No matter what cards you have been dealt – either the cards you started out with in this life, or the cards you’re holding now – if it’s not a good hand, you can overcome it.”

A perennial Blues Music Award nominee and multiple Blues Music Award winner including Acoustic Artist of The Year and Acoustic Album of the Year, A Soul To Claim is Doug’s 22nd album.

“Hopefully I will make you laugh, cry, think. Most importantly, I hope I make you feel, because that’s what this music is about.”

Reference Recordings, founded in 1976 in San Francisco, has multiple Grammy awards and a catalogue that includes numerous American and international orchestras, ensembles and choruses. FRESH! is part of Reference Recordings’ mission to encourage unique and fine artists, and give them a strong platform for promotion and sales nationally and internationally. Reference Recordings are distributed in North America by Naxos USA, and internationally through a network of independent distributors.

Tracklisting:
1. A Soul To Claim
2. Be What You Is
3. Money Talks
4. Where Are You?
5. Dodge City
6. Smokey Nights And Faded Blues
7. Only Porter At The Station
8. Mud Island Morning
9. Dubb’s Talking Disappointment Blues
10. Grease The Wheel
11. Somewhere On A Mississippi Highway
12. There Is Always Love