Roderick Owen MacDonald, known as Rod MacDonald, was born on August 17, 1948, in Southington, Connecticut. He began his musical education at age 11 and later switched to guitar, learning popular folk songs of the 1960s. His first recordings, "Song of My Brothers" and "The Coming of The Snow", were included on the Stash Records compilation Cornelia Street: The Songwriters Exchange in 1980. MacDonald's debut solo album, No Commercial Traffic, was released by Cinemagic Records in 1983, featuring songs like "American Jerusalem" and "Every Living Thing". He has since released numerous albums, including After The War (2009), Later That Night (2014), and Rants And Romance (2023). MacDonald's music has been covered by artists such as Dave Van Ronk and Shawn Colvin.
