Skip “Little Axe” McDonald: One Man-One Night... One Life In Music
The documentary film, “Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald: One Man-One Night…One Life in Music” highlights guitarist, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Skip “Little Axe” McDonald and his life and music. Skip “Little Axe” McDonald from Dayton, Ohio was an early pioneer of the Dayton funk scene with the group The Ohio Hustlers (sometimes referred to as The Hustlers). He went on to be a session guitar player, arranger and producer for rap music’s first hit making record label, Sugar Hill Records, playing on pioneering recordings during the “golden age of hip-hop” that helped to put rap music into the mainstream. McDonald played guitar on rap’s early influential recordings for such hip-hop pioneers as the Sugarhill Gang, the Sequence, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Force MDs, Afrika Bambaataa and others.
In the mid 1980s, McDonald began collaborating with legendary producer Adrian Sherwood via his London-based On-U Sound record label. Their work encompasses many releases from legends such as Lee Perry, Horace Andy, Bim Sherman, Tackhead, Doug Wimbish (Living Colour), Keith LeBlanc, Bernard Fowler, Sinead O'Connor, Mark Stewart, MAD 45, The Process, African Headcharge and many more world-renowned artists. Additionally, Skip McDonald, working under his moniker Little Axe, broke new musical ground by blending rap/hip hop and American blues.
Now in his sixth decade as a working American guitarist, recording artist and session musician, McDonald has notched nearly 400 album credits to his name on the All Music Guide. Skip “Little Axe” McDonald: One Man-One Night…One Life in Music, highlights this influential popular musician who has made an impact in a variety of music genres. Note: The performances within this documentary are featured on the live album by Little Axe titled One Man-One Night.
-
Matthew DonahueDirector
-
Joshua LightleDirector
-
Matthew DonahueWriter
-
Joshua LightleWriter
-
Matthew DonahueProducer
-
Joshua LightleProducer
-
Project Type:Documentary
-
Genres:Music, African American history, rap music, blues music, popular music, popular culture, African American culture, black music, funk music, Ohio, documentary, music documentaries, hip-hop music, live show
-
Runtime:60 minutes
-
Completion Date:August 23, 2024
-
Production Budget:6,000 USD
-
Country of Origin:United States
-
Country of Filming:United States
-
Language:English
-
Film Color:Color
-
First-time Filmmaker:No
-
Student Project:No
-
Digital Cinema Package:Unavailable
Matthew A. Donahue's Biography:
Matthew A. Donahue is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, award winning visual artist, musician, writer and educator in the field of Popular Culture.
His 2003 debut in film was the documentary film The Hines Farm Blues Club, for which he served as co-producer, co-writer and co-director as well as music consultant examined one of America’s premier blues clubs of the 1950s and 1960s. This documentary was a collaborative effort with WBGU-PBS and aired nationally in the United States. For this documentary Matthew A. Donahue received a Telly Award and was also nominated for an Emmy from the Midwest Chapter of the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences.
From there he has worked on numerous other popular culture/popular music documentaries, serving as producer, director, writer and music consultant. The documentaries are often related to his research or creative projects in the field of popular culture and popular music.
His documentary titled Taking It to the Streets: An Art Car Experience and Car Power: Another Art Car Experience, highlighted the history, cultural influence of art car culture and the creation of his art cars such as the Record Car, the Jackson Pollocktik and Car Power.
He went on to make the fan-based documentary Motorhead Matters. This documentary highlighted the history, cultural influence and fan connection to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal group Motorhead. For this film, he was the Grand Prize Winner of the Motorhead Superfan Contest of North America.
His documentary The Amsterdam T-Shirt Project, examined the souvenir t-shirt culture of the souvenir t-shirt capitol of the world Amsterdam, Netherlands. This documentary won the Bronze Award in the documentary category from the Fashion Film Festival Chicago.
The documentary Skip “Little Axe” McDonald: One Man-One Night…One Life in Music, highlights Donahue’s music collaborator, living legend, guitarist and music producer Skip “Little Axe” McDonald who is not only one of the godfathers of hip-hop working with the groundbreaking hip-hop record label Sugar Hill Records, as well as with On-U Sound Records acclaimed producer Adrian Sherwood, Tackhead, his own Little Axe music projects and a who’s who of popular musicians in a variety of genres.
His most recent documentary highlights the life and times of drummer and music producer Keith LeBlanc. Titled, Keith LeBlanc: 12 Movements of Boom…One Life in Music, this project focuses on one of the pioneers of hip-hop drumming with Sugar Hill Records and Tommy Boy Records, as well as his influential work with Tackhead, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and many other cutting-edge musicians in a variety of genres.
In addition to Donahue’s various film and creative projects, he teaches for the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.
For more information on his creative and academic pursuits, visit his website at www.md1210.com.
Joshua Lightle's Biography:
For nearly two decades, Cinematographer, Camera Operator and Editor Joshua Lightle has been working on ground-breaking documentaries, short films, and music videos.
In 2005, Lightle began his career at his alma mater, Bowling Green State University, in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he staged, shot and edited educational and promotional videos for the prestigious institution.
He joined Root Inc., a part of Accenture, in 2010, where he creates instructional and inspirational films for dozens of Global 2000 organizations –some of which have won both Telly Awards and Brandon Hall Awards.
While at Bowling Green State University, Joshua Lightle and Matthew A. Donahue began collaborating on various short films, music videos and documentaries...often described as “art for art’s sake” projects. Films include Car Power: Another Art Car Experience, Motorhead Matters, The Amsterdam T-Shirt Project and Skip “Little Axe” McDonald: One-Man-One Night…One Life in Music.
In addition to shooting and editing film, Josh has chaired the Tree City Film Festival (Sylvania, OH) for nearly a decade. His work has included award-winning films as judged by a panel of Hollywood professionals. Additionally, Josh was the host of The Story Machine 9000 –a podcast dedicated to storytelling and script writing. Lightle has also authored many other creative projects in a variety of artistic mediums.
Matthew A. Donahue-"I have been lucky to work on a variety of creative projects in different mediums that are based in "popular culture" AKA "everyday life" including music, art, film, the written word, as well as teaching on popular culture related projects as a Teaching Professor for the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University. For my latest documentary project titled Skip “Little Axe” McDonald One Man-One Night….One Life in Music, my longtime collaborator Joshua Lightle and I highlighted the life and music of legend and music icon Skip “Little Axe” McDonald. It was a joy to document his life in music and amazing to be in the presence of such a consummate musician and beautiful spirit for this labor of love project."
