Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015 was a memorable trip. I gave the Revue the pet name “Guitar Heaven,” stealing from Cool John Ferguson’s record title. The show featured guitar slingers from across the South, representing a great diversity of styles and attitudes. Cool John Ferguson gave them a taste of Low Country blues, George Stancell did a dance that sent shockwaves through his pants and likewise the crowd, Vasti Jackson was the first ever to crowd surf at a Music Maker show, Super Chikan wowed with his bedazzled homemade guitars, and Albert White gave them some of that deep South soul. The crowds loved it. I didn’t know the extent of it until I went over to the merch tent to check in on sales and found out there were no Music Maker CDs left; all had been sold by day two!

The Music Maker Revue closed the Jukejoint stage 4 of the 5 nights they performed at the festival, playing to capacity crowds that were transfixed, dancing with eyes closed and smiles ear to ear. Going on at 10pm every night meant relaxed mornings, long breakfasts and walks down the thoroughfare of the bustling tourist town of Coolangatta. One morning, Ardie took all of the guys to the funky music store we had discovered the year before. Motorcycle Music is run by Gary, a cantankerous beach bum who has seen and worked on every guitar and amp made in the past 60 years. Walking in the store is like opening up a treasure chest piled high with vintage guitars, amps, drum kits, accordions and bits and pieces of music detritus strewn about everywhere. On the fourth day, George Stancell returned from the store with a new guitar he had traded for the one he brought with him, the smile of a proud new owner on his face.

Knowing that this trip was my opportunity to get to know three Music Maker Discovery artists, I brought the Music Maker digital camera setup with plans to record some video of the guys playing. The first day, I set out to find a great location. Hotel rooms are ok, but not very original. I had to walk all the way to the end of the road where I found a barbershop; about 8 feet wide, the shop had a barber’s pole made out of the leg of a table attached to the insides of an old singer sewing machine – it was spinning with a little wobble, and I was intrigued. The place was run by a young barber named Clement; he and his wife had converted a breezeway into a sardine can barbershop, the back of which was a stage set four feet off the ground and large enough for one person. Clem, a musician himself, was excited to hear I was with a group of American blues musicians and said he would love for our artists to perform so I could shoot video. So we returned the following day;  Vasti Jackson, George Stancell and Super Chikan all did sets, performing informally for a crowd that gathered in the small space. Here is the first video we have cut together; it features Super Chikan performing his song SippiSeeKinsaw on his homemade 6-string Diddly Bo.

— Aaron

This engagement was supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.