{"id":1850,"date":"2017-10-20T11:48:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T10:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2017-10-20T11:48:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T10:48:33","slug":"bill-mackay-ryley-walker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=1850","title":{"rendered":"Bill MacKay &#038; Ryley Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BILL MACKAY &amp; RYLELY WALKER\u00a0return with new\u00a0colloborative album\u00a0<em>SpiderBeetleBee.\u00a0<\/em>MARC LE BRETON asks the duo about the creative process.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bill MacKay &amp; Ryley Walker &quot;Lonesome Traveler&quot; (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZWt0EKb3jJI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Following their previous collaboration (2016\u2019s\u00a0<i>Land Of Plenty<\/i>) which comprised\u00a0of live tracks assembled from a residency in Chicago,\u00a0Bill MacKay and Ryley Walker\u2019s second album <em>SpiderBeetleBee<\/em> is a more focused\u00a0studio-based outing. A honed, deliberate affair that features mellifluous playing\u00a0that\u00a0makes subtle use of some long-standing friends and collaborators. \u201cThe tunes all began as guitar songs\u201d\u00a0says Walker. \u00a0\u201cThe idea of collaborating with our peers came upon us right before hitting the studio. Definitely a fine choice as I think it expands the music into other universes very well.&#8221;\u00a0MacKay concurs\u00a0\u201cI agree,\u00a0Ryan (Jewell, Tabla) and Katinka (Kleijn, Cello) brought those songs into another space that widens the entire record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1851\" src=\"http:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16.jpg 700w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-450x450.jpg 450w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/a3836439452_16-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Initial listening brings to mind the searching quality of primitive guitar (John Fahey being its\u00a0greatest exponent) with the interplay of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn and\u00a0there\u2019s a breadth of differing international influences that flit across the songs. \u2018I Heard Them Singing\u2019 for instance\u00a0features a Requinto guitar which, says Mackay, \u201cHas special timbres that mix so interestingly with other strings\u201d and gives it a Spanish\/Portuguese flavour.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Shindig!<\/em> asked what makes for the ideal listening\u00a0environment. Walker grins,\u00a0\u201cEither coming up or coming down is my preferred experience.\u00a0I like the idea of the record being background music as well; put it on while you make somebody special some fried eggs, you know\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also a\u00a0cinematic feel to the album as a whole and\u00a0MacKay agrees \u201cI think of a lot of the music that I dig, and that I write, as being filmic. So, I think you&#8217;ve got a good handle on it there. Get a window seat on the train, and dig in. Some folks who\u2019ve heard it pre-release swear it\u2019s a trusty companion on long drives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1852\" src=\"http:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-100x67.jpg 100w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/0009156571_10.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So what is the origin of that strange title\u00a0Bill? \u201cWell, I was walking around Pittsburgh one day in a fairly green area and came upon this fantastical insect. I couldn&#8217;t identify it at all. A wild thing! It looked like this mad mixture of a spider, a beetle, and a bee.\u201d Walker adds, \u201cTo me it sounds playful and I always like the idea of putting nature and beasts into words on paper\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The release comes out on the back of a short UK tour where MacKay played in Walker\u2019s band whilst also doing a solo stint at the start of the evening. How did that go? \u201cYes, that was a wonderful trip. I felt very free in the solo sets to voyage around, then\u2026 free again to do so in the band sets!\u201d Walker recalls it as \u201cThe most magical time! (We) got the chance to play new songs which people seemed to dig.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Shindig!<\/em> also got to ask them both whether they have any guitar duo heroes? \u201cBert and John is a big one\u201d Walker enthuses. \u201cLots of classic rock stuff like Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, Television with Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine\u2026 definitely a lot of Grateful Dead stuff too.\u00a0\u201d MacKay states \u201cI would second Ryley&#8217;s choices here, and add My Bloody Valentine\u2019s Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher, Chet Atkins\/Les Paul and Lou Reed\/Sterling Morrison!\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Finally, we asked Walker and MacKay\u00a0if they would provide an exclusive track by track guide to their new opus in the style of classic \u201960s liner notes on the back of albums.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Grand Old Trout<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>: I pulled out a book of poetry Bill had around his house with this title. It spoke to me. \u00a0This magical fresh water fish. \u00a0Very Midwest and pure. I don\u2019t eat fish though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>: A very stately gem by Ryley, I never tire of it. It is really a pristine statement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pretty Weeds Revisited<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>: The mystery in Celtic music &amp; art\u2026very alluring, and this song aimed at catching a bit of it. The title referred to all of us, people living\u2026pretty weeds\u2026flawed yet often wonderful&#8230;struggling to work it out<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lower Chestnut<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>: A\u00a0short tune that\u2019s an ode to the bizarre characters of the underground streets downtown Chicago. Good place to piss and drink a beer away from the police above the ground where the shoppers are shopping and the people spending.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Naturita<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>: Sweet A side closer. Named after a rural town in Colorado where I bought a microwave burrito and ate it on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains<\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>:\u00a0A slice of hazy sun through the pines. Elegiac afternoon. Abstract though clear as the stars.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>I Heard Them Singing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker: <\/strong>(We) came up with this in the studio. Tuned my guitar all weird and we came up with this sweet east meets west Melody. Ryan Jewell sends it home on percussion.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stretching My Dollar In Plano<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>: Another spontaneous composition. Reminds me of a Ry Cooder \u2018Paris, Texas\u2019 soundtrack sort of thing. I love this song.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>: Yeah, this was another spot where we used maximum freedom as a platform. I see the sea, the desert and the city in it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lonesome Traveler<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>: This one is dear to me. It\u2019s dedicated to Jack Kerouac who wrote a book using this same title. Ryley played a wonderful solo on it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>:\u00a0I\u2019m probably the worst guitar soloist in the world but somehow, I pulled off a cool solo where it sort of seems like I know how to play! Ha ha!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dragonfly<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Walker<\/strong>:\u00a0Cello on here slays hard. A psychedelic tango where the sun melts into your eardrum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MacKay<\/strong>:This one is another one where the mood took over. We hit it pretty intensely with our friend Katinka Kleiijn joining on cello. It\u2019s a bracing and haunted air\u2026a kind of short film in song\u2026I feel the characters in it. A fitting end I think to the record, drawing you in as it disappears in its smoke.<\/p>\n<p><i>SpiderBeetleBee is released today on Drag City<\/i><\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F1850&#038;t=Bill%20MacKay%20%26%20Ryley%20Walker&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F1850&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F10%2Fa3836439452_16.jpg&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Bill%20MacKay%20%26%20Ryley%20Walker\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F1850&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Bill%20MacKay%20%26%20Ryley%20Walker&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F1850\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BILL MACKAY &amp; RYLELY WALKER\u00a0return with new\u00a0colloborative album\u00a0SpiderBeetleBee.\u00a0MARC LE BRETON asks the duo about the creative process. Following their previous collaboration (2016\u2019s\u00a0Land Of Plenty) which comprised\u00a0of live tracks assembled from a residency in Chicago,\u00a0Bill MacKay and Ryley Walker\u2019s second album SpiderBeetleBee is a more focused\u00a0studio-based outing. A honed, deliberate affair that features mellifluous playing\u00a0that\u00a0makes subtle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,7],"tags":[460,461,116],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-music-videos","tag-bill-mackay","tag-drag-city","tag-ryley-walker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1850"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}