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| Skip McDonald | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bernard "Skip" McDonald |
| Birth name | Bernard Alexander McDonald |
| Alias | Skip McDonald |
| Birth date | 28 May 1954 |
| Birth place | Dayton, Ohio |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Blues, Funk, Hip hop, Dub, Electronica |
| Occupations | Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, keyboards |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | Sugar Hill Records, On-U Sound Records, Fat Possum Records |
| Associated acts | Tackhead, Little Axe, Sugarhill Records house band, Keith LeBlanc, Doug Wimbish, Adrian Sherwood |
Skip McDonald is an American guitarist, vocalist, and producer whose career spans blues, funk, hip hop, dub, and electronic music. Born Bernard Alexander McDonald in Dayton, Ohio, he became a prominent session musician in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s, contributing to landmark recordings across genres. McDonald later gained recognition for his work with Sugarhill Records, the experimental collective Tackhead, and his blues project Little Axe.
McDonald was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in a musical environment influenced by Gospel music and Soul music. He moved to New York City as a young adult, where he absorbed the sounds of Funkadelic, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Jimi Hendrix while developing his guitar technique. During this period he encountered musicians and producers connected to Philadelphia International Records, Stax Records, and the session worlds of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and Motown Records, which informed his approach to rhythm, arrangement, and studio craft.
In New York City, McDonald joined a cadre of session players who worked with touring and studio acts tied to Atlantic Records, CBS Records, and independent soul labels. He performed with artists associated with Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, and members of the James Brown touring band. As part of a rhythm section with bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc, McDonald became a go-to guitarist for sessions linked to producers at Sugar Hill Records, Tommy Boy Records, and producers connected to Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa.
McDonald was a central member of the house band at Sugar Hill Records, contributing guitar and arrangements to foundational early hip hop recordings. He played on seminal singles and albums associated with artists like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Sugarhill Gang, and Melle Mel, helping translate funk and R&B instrumentation into recordings that accompanied pioneering rap vocals. His work intersected with figures from Sylvia Robinson to session engineers who shaped recordings sold through distributors linked to Profile Records and CBS Records in the 1980s.
Partnering with bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc, and producer Adrian Sherwood, McDonald became a founding member of Tackhead, an industrial-dub-funk collective noted for its abrasive textures and political lyricism. Tackhead collaborated with artists and producers from the On-U Sound Records roster and intersected with projects involving Mark Stewart, Little Axe, and remix culture surrounding Nine Inch Nails and Massive Attack scenes. Tackhead's output brought McDonald into contact with dub traditions from King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry while maintaining roots in Funk and post-punk production aesthetics.
Adopting the moniker Little Axe, McDonald re-framed his work around electric blues, soul, and dub production approaches. Little Axe projects merged interpretations of traditional blues with electronic programming and dub treatments by collaborators including Adrian Sherwood and members of On-U Sound Records. Albums under Little Axe featured covers and reworkings of material from Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and contemporary songwriters, positioning McDonald within a lineage that connects Delta blues traditions to Trip hop and modern roots revivals. He has also released recordings and toured with configurations that highlight his vocals, guitar work, and production alongside longtime collaborators.
McDonald's style synthesizes strands from blues, funk, Hip hop, dub, and Electronica. Guitar techniques draw on Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and R.L. Burnside while rhythmic sensibilities reflect influences from James Brown, Bootsy Collins, and the grooves of Sly and the Family Stone. Production and sonic textures show the imprint of producers such as Adrian Sherwood, dub innovators like Lee "Scratch" Perry, and the sample-driven aesthetics prominent in 1980s hip hop. His vocal delivery channels traditional gospel phrasing and modern interpretive blues storytelling akin to John Lee Hooker and Skip James.
- With Sugarhill era sessions: recordings linked to The Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Melle Mel (late 1970s–1980s) - Tackhead: multiple albums and singles with Tackhead and collaborations with Mark Stewart and On-U Sound Records artists - Little Axe: albums produced with Adrian Sherwood blending blues and dub; releases on On-U Sound Records and Fat Possum Records - Collaborations: session and touring work with artists and producers including Doug Wimbish, Keith LeBlanc, Adrian Sherwood, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Melle Mel, and assorted projects spanning Blues music and Electro scenes
Category:American guitarists Category:American blues musicians Category:Musicians from Dayton, Ohio