Steve Macdonald
by Pete Grubbs
(2003)
So you want to know about Steve Macdonald, eh?
Well, let me tell you . . . . . .
The more mundane stuff about Steve is out on the web at http://www.stevemacdonald.org. He put his bio there; in fact, he put no fewer than EIGHT bios there. (I mean, honestly, can you spell o-v-e-r-k-i-l-l?) That said, I'm not going to re-hash all of his Pegasus Awards (4), his con appearances and honors (double-digits and counting) and his high school graduation date (Vicksburg, 1980). I'm going to tell you Everything I Know About Steve:
Steve likes to sing.
That's about it. He likes to sing. A lot. Real loud.
He sings serious songs; he sings silly songs; he sings fannish songs; he sings mundane songs; he sings harmonies; he sings leads; he sings songs he wrote; he sings Jethro Tull (Go ahead; ASK him to sing some Tull, then go out for pizza and come back; he'll still be singing Tull.). Steve also likes to play guitar. He's modest about his guitar playing and, truth be told, he isn't exactly a guitar god, but HE AIN'T BAD. He does one thing with the guitar exactly the way he should: He accompanies himself very well. (This might not sound like a big deal, but there's an art to it that transcends just playing the guitar or just singing. In fact, any time you see someone who can play decently and sing decently at the same time, you should be a little impressed. It's not nearly as easy as it looks.) He's also pretty fair at jamming out with other folks, even when he doesn't know the song. He's better when he knows the song and he knows A LOT of songs. Especially Jethro Tull. Did I mention Tull? He likes to sing requests. In fact, he loves to sing requests. If you like filk, you should ask Steve to sing for you. He will. He's just that kind of guy.
Steve is also a great pal. He can sing all night long (I have proof), he can talk all night long (I have proof) but he can also LISTEN all night long. How many people do you know who can do that? He has an opinion about almost everything (I have proof) and he's usually wrong about almost everything (I have proof) but he's never snotty or difficult about it. Well, almost never.
Steve Macdonald? He's a good guy, a fine performer and a great friend.
Good choice, Balticon; you did yourself proud.