Career
He is most famous as singer, guitarist, and main songwriter for Timbuk3, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1987. Their breakup in 1995 spurred a solo career that has steadily produced releases in both Europe and the United States. "MacDonald is long known for his playful, edgy songs," says Guitar Player Magazine (May 2007, p 38). Songwriting credits include collaborations with Cher, Keith Urban, Imogen Heap, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Peter Frampton, and famed Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Songs he"s written or co-written have been recorded by Aerosmith, Oysterhead, Cher, Jools Holland, Billy Ray Cyrus, Night Ranger, Zucchero and others, and have appeared in movies from the controversial horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) with Dennis Hopper, to Tommy Boy (1995) starring Chris Farley.
He is currently performing and touring as Purgatory Hill with Milwaukee singer/songwriter melaniejane. In 2005, he co-founded Steel Bridge Songfest, an annual not-for-profit benefit concert and songwriting festival held in his current hometown of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.