Locust Land, is Bill MacKay’s first album since 2019. It’s a mix of folky vocal melodies and transcendent instrumental reveries, intricate in execution but sublimely easy to listen to. We caught up to talk about MacKay’s life in guitar; the way that structured, sung songs and open-ended improvisations can say the same things in different ways, and how he hopes his music will land with people.
Category: Bill Mackay
BCMC :: Foreign Smokes
Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain run in the same Chicago circles, MacKay tilting, maybe, a little further towards folk and blues and Crain of Bitchin Bajas and Cave leaning harder into krautish experimental drone. There’s certainly plenty of common ground, however, judging from this four-track collaboration, as both work to find magic in still, pooling reservoirs of sound that do not move so much as they glisten in unearthly light.
Bill MacKay :: Movie House/Sala de Cine
When improvisor Bill MacKay spoke with Aquarium Drunkard before, he evoked the dim of the movie house in his work. “Cinema’s always been important, and music that has that cinematic edge to it especially interests me. I think a lot of the things that have hit me really heavily have some of those filmlike qualities to them.” Now American Dreams Records releases Movie House | Sala de Cine, a book of poems from Bill MacKay. The noted Chicago musician wrote in English and then translated each to Spanish, with editorial assistance from Luis Jorge Boone. Today, AD presents “Oddly colored sunsets.”
Bill MacKay on New York Tendaberry
As a guitarist and improviser, Bill MacKay specializes in collaboration and openness. He’s that way as a listener too. Today he joins us for an essay about Laura Nyro’s third album, 1969’s New York Tendaberry.
Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles: Keys / Black Twig Pickers: Friend’s Peace
As its title suggests, Keys unlocks all kinds of musical doors, welcoming the listener into spaces that are alternately joyous and mournful, weird and deep. Make yourself right at home.
Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn :: Stir
On the heels of the excellent Fountain Fire, Bill MacKay returns with his second LP of 2019, this time alongside “Chicago’s first lady of the cello,” Katinka Kleijn.
Bill MacKay: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview
Chicago guitarist Bill MacKay returns with another winningly eclectic solo LP for Drag City. Fountain Fire sneaks up on you; its songs are unassuming at first, with a loose, conversational feel to them. Ahead of the album’s release, MacKay joined Aquarium Drunkard to discuss his shifting approaches, cinematic inspirations, and establishing his own musical language.
Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker :: Lonesome Traveler
The stellar Chicago duo of Ryley Walker and Bill MacKay return next month with SpiderBeetleBee , a collection of fluid acoustic freedom flights, floating from Britfolk excursions to hazy rambles into unclassifiable zones. Walker and […]
Bill MacKay :: Esker
In recent years, guitarist Bill MacKay has served as Ryley Walker’s six-string sparring partner , built luminous soundscapes with Rob Frye (Bitchin Bajas, Cave) and led the jazz-inflected Darts and Arrows collective. A varied resume! MacKay maintains this healthy sense of adventure on Esker , […]
Dynamic Duos :: James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg / Bill Mackay & Ryley Walker
With John Renbourn passing into the great unknown this year to join his six-string brother in arms Bert Jansch, it’s a good time to be reminded of the wonderful sounds two acoustic guitarists in joyous communion can make. These […]