Biography
A New Zealand native named Steven McDonald, now viewed chiefly as a Celtic music artist, has traversed numerous stylistic borders over the years through work in rock, new age, and film scoring, along with additional genres. Piano instruction began for him at age five, though he later took up drums and entered his debut group, the Strangers, upon turning twelve. Time spent in England as a Dizzy Limits member brought external influences that prompted the ensemble’s return to New Zealand, where they adopted the name Timberjack and issued the contentious Come to the Sabbat.
McDonald departed Timberjack to join Taylor, exchanging percussion for keyboards. That outfit produced one self-titled album before dissolving, after which he entered Human Instinct. His initial solo outing arrived in 1980 as The Riddle and the Rhyme, the first in a sequence of such releases; he then spent two and a half years in Australia refining his stage performance prior to returning to New Zealand, where the first of multiple music awards came his way. From 1983 onward he also contributed extensively to New Zealand television and cinema by supplying scores for various projects.
His initial U.S. release reached the market in 1989 with the atmospheric Spinfield, a set of synthesizer-based pieces issued stateside by Hearts of Space. Though that album achieved modest success, McDonald appeared in the U.S. solely via scattered compilations until Sons of Somerled emerged in 1996, an album rooted in MacDonald clan history. The expansive recording, marked by sweeping arrangements, lesser-known historical allusions, and energetic vocal deliveries, drew considerable notice along with strong sales. Stone of Destiny appeared the following year, and three years after that McDonald issued Highland Farewell.
McDonald departed Timberjack to join Taylor, exchanging percussion for keyboards. That outfit produced one self-titled album before dissolving, after which he entered Human Instinct. His initial solo outing arrived in 1980 as The Riddle and the Rhyme, the first in a sequence of such releases; he then spent two and a half years in Australia refining his stage performance prior to returning to New Zealand, where the first of multiple music awards came his way. From 1983 onward he also contributed extensively to New Zealand television and cinema by supplying scores for various projects.
His initial U.S. release reached the market in 1989 with the atmospheric Spinfield, a set of synthesizer-based pieces issued stateside by Hearts of Space. Though that album achieved modest success, McDonald appeared in the U.S. solely via scattered compilations until Sons of Somerled emerged in 1996, an album rooted in MacDonald clan history. The expansive recording, marked by sweeping arrangements, lesser-known historical allusions, and energetic vocal deliveries, drew considerable notice along with strong sales. Stone of Destiny appeared the following year, and three years after that McDonald issued Highland Farewell.
Albums
