He formed the duo with his wife, Barbara K. MacDonald, in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1984 before moving to Austin, Texas, that same year.

Songwriting credits include collaborations with Cher, Keith Urban, Imogen Heap, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Peter Frampton, and Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Songs he has written, or co-written, have been recorded by Aerosmith, Oysterhead, Cher, Jools Holland, Billy Ray Cyrus, Night Ranger, Zucchero, and others, and have appeared in movies ranging from the controversial horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) with Dennis Hopper, to Tommy Boy (1995) starring Chris Farley.

MacDonald and his friend and collaborator Eric McFadden record and perform as the gothic-country duo The Legendary Sons of Crack Daniels.

In 2005, he co-founded Steel Bridge Songfest, an annual not-for-profit benefit concert and songwriting festival held in his current hometown of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.