Times have changed when Wes Mackey’s first music gig in Augusta, Georgia about five decades ago paid him 50 cents and a chicken sandwich.
Today, the pay is considerably better. But the music hasn’t changed that much.
The septuagenarian still belts out the blues and he’ll be doing just that with his Back in Blue! show on Jan. 6 at the ANAF Unit 284 in Steveston.
“That was a long time ago, but a sandwich and 50 cents was pretty good for a 19 or 20-year-old who was just picking up little gigs as I went along with a band,” said Mackey who, on Wednesday morning, had just returned from Revelstoke and a ski lodge show for heli-skiers that was part of his still crowded show schedule.
“I do a lot of work in Europe, too,” he said. “And I just came back from South Carolina where I spent two weeks doing promotional stuff and a couple of smaller shows.”
He also co-hosts a radio show at the University of South Carolina.
But with all of that going on, he’s keen to come to Steveston and play the blues that he took to after hearing legends such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed.
“Those are just some of the old time blues players I looked up to,” Mackey said.
“And I got a chance with the band I was with at the University of Georgia to back up some of them.”
Those brushes with fame inspired Mackey to make music his life, with much of it spent north of the border.
Battles with the demons of drink interrupted at times, but he got through them and he rekindled a love for his music in his forties — about the time when he first found his way to B.C. where he now lives in Vancouver.
“I love to play guitar, sing and use my feet for the bass pedals,” Mackey, said, adding he will be performing some classics, as well as a selection of his original material from his CDs.
Mackey performs at ANAF Unit 284 (11900 No. 1 Road) on Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m. There is no cover charge for this show, but non-club members must sign in at the door.
