All types of music are floating around within CBC Music. Discovery has always been one of the joys of this community. From time to time, we will showcase one of the hundreds of artists who have created profiles and uploaded their own music for you to enjoy. There is a world of blues in here, and we will help you find it.
Vancouver’s Wes Mackey is in good blues company. In 2010 he was nominated for best contemporary blues artist at the Blues Awards, through the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation in Memphis. Past nominees have included Koko Taylor, Bobby Rush, Lucky Peterson and Shemekia Copeland.
After 50 years honing his musical craft, Mackey is finally emerging into the larger consciousness of blues fans. The South Carolina-born guitar player and vocalist was raised in Atlanta, Ga., where he often played in local backing bands for such blues luminaries as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed. Though Mackey is now a resident of Vancouver, the world is his home. Indeed, blues fans in Russia, Hong Kong and Iceland are perhaps more aware of his pure and raspy blues voice than many people in his adopted country.
Mackey’s story is one of true blues lore. He had given up on music for many years to deal with personal troubles. Alcohol abuse, broken family, living in a van, this is the stuff of the modern bluesman. To top it off, Mackey has a stutter, developed as a child, as a result of a traumatic experience, during a fire.
Coming back to the stage years later, Mackey had put his life back together. Encouraged by the fact he didn’t stutter when he sang, Mackey re-began his career, but this time as a solo artist and front man of his own band.
An anecdote from his website exemplifies how much the whole world has become his stage: “One of the happiest days of my life was when I got a call from Gary Erwin (a.k.a. Shrimp City Slim) asking me to take part in the Lowcountry Blues Bash in Charleston, South Carolina. He saw my name on the internet and remembered seeing me perform in Kuala Lumpur! When he found out I was from near Charleston, he naturally invited me to perform at the festival. It really was a homecoming. All the media was there, newspapers, radio, TV and most importantly I saw my family for the first time in many years.”
AUDIOFrom his CBC Music profile page, this is Wes Mackey with “Blues Shack.”
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