Blues legend comes to Hayesville
Mac Arnold will play Hayesville Nov. 9. File photo
Renowned blues act Mac Arnold & Plate Full O’Blues appears at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville.
A world-renowned blues musician and South Carolina native, Arnold began playing music in the 1950s when he and his brother built a guitar from a steel gas can, broomsticks, wood, nails and screen wire.
His first band, J Floyd & the Shamrocks, included a young James Brown on piano. As a member of the Muddy Waters’ band, Arnold helped shape the electric blues sound that inspired rock and roll of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Regular guests of the band included Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop.
They’ve shared the stage with Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Junior Wells, Big Joe Williams and Big Mama Thornton. Arnold’s band Soul Invaders backed up iconic musicians such as B.B. King, The Temptations, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker and Little Milton.
In Los Angeles, Arnold worked for ABC Television’s “Soul Train” band and provided his distinctive bass lines for the theme song of the hit television show “Sanford and Son.”
Among his numerous awards are the Folk Heritage Award (2006), “Best Historical Album of the Year” (2010), an honorary doctorate of music from the University of South Carolina and induction into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame (2017).
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Though retiring in the 1990s to become an organic farmer, Arnold returned to the music scene when he formed the Plate Full O’Blues band in 2006.
Tickets are $36.50 for adults and $32.50 for students/military/ages 65 and over. Children ages eight and under are $12.50. Doors at 7 p.m.
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, call 828.389.ARTS or go to thepeacocknc.org.
