Jazz and Blues Lounge

A Blues Legend, a MySpace Page and a Guitar Made from a Can

by balaspa on July 24th, 2007

We do live in amazing times.  These days, really, with the internet and things like MySpace and Facebook and blogs, there is no celebrity who is too out of reach.  These days, you can almost literally reach out and touch your favorite star whether that star is a musician, movie star or television star.

For example, on MySpace, I subscribe to a few different blogs and have become “friends” with some people who are celebrities.  Of course, I am not delusional enough to believe that they actually know who I am, but it is an interesting way to learn intimate things about certain celebrities.  For example, Jenna Fisher, who plays Pam on the show “the Office.”

When you get into musical genres like jazz and blues, not only is something like MySpace an outstanding way to find new music, it’s a good way to look for guys who have been around a long time.  So, while doing some searching for new Blues sites on MySpace to check out, I came across one for Mac Arnold and the Plate Full o’ Blues band.

Mac is one of those guys who LOOKS like he was constructed by God to play the blues.  He has a beard.  He looks road-weary and like he has lived more than a few of his own songs.  Heck, he plays a guitar made out of a can.  Yes, a can.  If Les Paul could make his first guitar out of a railroad tie, Mac Arnold can dazzle you with his licked played off of a metal can with a stick attacked and strings attached.

Mac is actually down south these days.  His MySpace page (www.myspace.com/macarnold) states he was a part of a huge blues festival in downtown Greenville, SC.  Right on his list of links and websites, he has a link to Buddy Guy’s Legends.  So you know he plays the Chicago Blues and comes into town here to play as much as he can.

Judging by his list of gigs, this is a guy busier than a one-armed paper hanger.  Checkout his site at MySpace, drop him a line and say hello.  He also has a more-standard website (www.macarnold.com).  See him if you get the chance.

POSTED IN: Chicago, blues