Singer Songwriter Draws Creative Inspiration from an Unlikely Source, Floribbean Cuisine
Florida Singer Songwriter John McDonald rolls out a Floribbean musical vibe on his new CD release titled Islandology
Now, on his upcoming record called Islandology, McDonald takes a creative cue from a unique source, innovative chefs of the Floribbean2 culinary tradition who freely mix and match cuisines from all over the Caribbean, including Afro-Cuban, Jamaican, Central and South American influences.
“I love this food!” McDonald proclaims. "It hit me that my collaborators and I kind of emulate these chefs who use spices, fruits and rubs from a lot of different tropical destinations."
When McDonald and guitarist Dale Cinski quarantined to record the new songs for Islandology in drummer Kevin Kornicki’s Merritt Island, FL studio during the Pandemic, they intuitively tapped into their mutual passion for tropically rooted music.
"Along with rock, we spontaneously mixed in grooves from Africa with Latin, reggae, calypso and bosa nova, adding steel drums and multiple layers of percussion with a dash of Hawaiian" McDonald explains.
Kornicki, an aficionado of world beat rhythms and the Afro-Caribbean music tradition, drives the energetic, up-tempo vibe of Islandology while Cinski, steeped in flamenco, Latin rock and jazz, adds a smooth Santana-like tone to the songs.
Along with Floribbean cuisine, McDonald acknowledges the musical influence of artists like Sting, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne and Paul Simon who prolifically integrated elements of music from South Africa, Jamaica and South America into pop and rock.
However, given McDonald’s proximity to the Caribbean, his Islandology CD fits into the genre of ‘Gulf and Western’ originally spawned by Jimmy Buffett and popularized in recent decades by ‘country beach’ hit makers Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band. McDonald adds, "This all culminates into the expanding and constantly evolving Florida-centric music genre Trop Rock."
"There doesn’t seem to be a definitive way to define this music but the blended word Floribbean captures the musical vibe and our approach to recording my new songs on Islandology quite nicely" says McDonald.
Backed by an 8-piece band, John McDonald will happily spread his Floribbean Islandology on Sunday, May 2, 2021, at his CD Release Concert - at the Beach: Crowne Plaza Melbourne - Oceanfront.
Islandology was produced by award-winning Music Row veteran Rick Beresford and mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated audio engineer Eric Torres at The Couch Room in Nashville TN.
EPK https://johnmcdonaldmusic.com/epk-john-mcdonald-cd-islandology
Please call John McDonald directly to set up an interview: 412-804-8747
Donna DiBongrazio
Floribbean Music
+1 609-510-3947
donnadibon@yahoo.com
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1 https://johnmcdonaldmusic.com/epk-john-mcdonald-cd-islandology
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floribbean_cuisine#cite_note-1
3 https://www.facebook.com/events/798907510967935?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%2229%22%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3A%22plan_user_associated%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D¬if_id=1617739989017045¬if_t=plan_user_associated&ref=notif