Chicago guitarist, composer and improviser Bill MacKay's informed and creative approach to the electric guitar is breathtaking. Fountain Fire, his second Drag City solo album (and third DC album overall, including the 2017 duet album with Ryley Walker, SpiderBeetleBee), signals new flares in
Bill's flame-stoking fascination with traditional and improvised music, burning everything down to a charred, smoking essence. His playing is free yet precise amid magnetically compelling compositions, and, for the first time, he sings, with all the sweetness and mystery of his playing. All of which is to say, Fountain Fire is truly an expansive - yet sharply focused - collection of jams.
The album's third single, "Welcome," acts as a paean to inviting strangers to your country or home with a warm embrace. Featuring electric & acoustic guitars, bass, percussion and even organ, "Welcome" dances wildly and may leave you thinking, just how many fingers does this guy have?! Beaming with energy and incandescence, "Welcome" is hypnotic voyage through
MacKay's exploratory sound. Listen to "Welcome" above (and on WFMU's Avant Ghetto) and don't forget to pre-order your copy of Fountain Fire today!
TOUR DATES
3/21 @ The Little Fleet in Traverse City, MI
3/25 @ Bastion in Nashville, TN
3/26 @ Green Lantern in Lexington, KY
3/27 @ State Street Pub in Indianapolis, IN
3/28 @ Torn Light in Cincinnati, OH
3/29 @ The Hideout in Chicago, IL
3/30 @ Acme in Milwaukee, WI
4/10 @ Reverberation Vinyl in Bloomington, IL
4/11/19 @ Foam in St. Louis, MO
4/12/19 @ Cafe Berlin in Columbia, MO
4/13/19 @ Mills Record Co. in Kansas City, MO
5/15/19 @ The Love Song Bar in Los Angeles, CA
5/16/19 @ Kim Maxwell Studio in Ojai, CA
5/18/19 @ Swedish American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA
