Bill MacKay at Rozz-Tox -- October 18.
Friday, October 18, 8 p.m.
Rozz-Tox, 2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Lauded by NPR as a "a rich and easygoing reminder that the American guitar tradition is a vast and detailed one," Chicago-based composer, guitarist, and singer Bill MacKay headlines an October 18 concert at Rock island's Rozz-Tox, the artist's 2024 release Locust Land, according to Flood magazine, "filled with crunchy guitar parts, prog-folk instrumentation, looming organ swells, and subtle drum parts that give the album a steady propulsion. It’s some of his strongest work, both deeply intimate and boldly cosmic."
As stated at AllMusic.com, "MacKay was born in Tarrytown, New York on April 3, 1968. He grew up in Rochester, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of a trumpeter (both parents were fans of Broadway show tunes, classical music, and jazz). His early influences include the Beatles, Frédéric Chopin, John and Alice Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, and Laura Nyro, among others, and his literary influences include beat poets Kenneth Patchen and Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allan Poe, and Antonin Artaud. In Rochester, he briefly studied classical guitar with Kevin Morse, and in Pittsburgh he was in the music program at Chartiers Valley High School from 1982-1984 and Penn Hills High School, graduating in 1986, taking further instruction with guitarists Eric Susoeff and Joe Negri. MacKay attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston for the next two years and took a course in improvisation and composition with pianist, violinist, composer, and singer Alice Orpheus at the New England Conservatory in 2005."
Adding that MacKay's music "ranges freely across the experimental folk, rock, and avant-garde scenes," AllMusic.com continued: "His creative, unpredictable approach to the guitar is augmented by his original approach to songwriting. He has been recording music since 2004 and is a prolific collaborator with artists across the musical spectrum. He is best known to rock fans as the founder of the bands Sounds of Now, Broken Things, and Darts & Arrows. He described his music loosely as 'garage jazz' for 2005's Bill Mackay & Sounds of Now. The set's raw production sensibilities reveal intuitive improvisations, canny group interplay, and influences steeped in rock, blues, and folk, and set the stage for 2007's meld of hard rock and free jazz Swim to the River. MacKay formed Darts & Arrows, who issued a pair of albums between 2010 and 2012. He released Sunrise: Bill Mackay Plays the Songs of John Hulburt, a tribute offering on Tompkins Square. He signed with Drag City and issued Esker, in 2017. STIR, in duo with cellist Katinka Kleijn, appeared in 2019, as did MacKay's Fountain Fire. In 2021, he and banjoist Nathan Bowles released Keys, and in 2024, MacKay returned with Locust Land."
Bill MacKay plays his headlining engagement in Rock Island on October 18 with an additional set by Master & Altar, admission to the 8 p.m. all-ages concert is $15-20, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)200-0978 and visiting RozzTox.com.
