Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald
“Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald are as good as it gets; amazing harmonies, great songs, and a wonderful vibe on stage that is at the same time entertaining, spiritual, musical, and totally delightful.” –Freebo
Modern folk musicians Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald, from Nevada City, CA., have been writing and performing original, contemporary folk music for 33 years. A blend of contemporary and traditional styles, their music is graced by exquisite harmony, compelling songwriting, deceptively simple arrangements and intricate guitar work… all embraced by great heart. They’ve been applauded throughout the US as well as overseas for the lyrical content of their songs and vocal blend…a haunting style which weaves unique harmonies into a rich tapestry of guitar work and storytelling.
They are Kerrville, Telluride and Rocky Mountain New Folk award winners, to name just a few, but the real nature of their musical voice doesn’t come into focus as easily as reciting a list of these coveted prizes.
The quiet way they live and work flows through their music like water, and washes over you as surely as the notes do. You get the impression that working for issues like peace and justice shouldn’t keep us from dropping everything to help a stray animal in need, and that ambition is nothing without love, because one thing follows another, one hand connected to the other.
At home in large venues like the Strawberry, Kerrville or Kate Wolf music festivals, a late night ‘in the round’ tribute to Woody Guthrie with folks they greatly admire like Jackson Browne, Eliza Gilkyson, Steve Earle and Jimmy Lafave, or in the small intimate setting of a living room house concert, Paul and Eleanore sing with the same voice. One that is personal and unguarded… a voice draped in stark and ethereal harmonies that are as welcoming as the crackling warmth of a fire.
Their newest CD, ‘From the Fire’ (released in June 2010) features the work of guest artists Joe Craven, Nina Gerber, Bill Douglass and Tom Menig (Alela Diane).
A concert with Paul and Eleanore is a night to remember…the depth and beauty of their lyrical and harmonic mastery is filled with colour, their songwriting is stimulating, inspirational, magical, folky yet somehow all smoky jazzy and far away places too, and it might make you want to get up and move…their powerful lyrical imagery and haunting and moving harmony always in honor of their folk roots.
