Rick MacNab is one of the first artists I met when I moved to the Valley in 2005. It is funny how some human beings can leave a permanent impression, without interacting much with me, or without countless heart-to-heart conversations. I will write about him, without consulting him, without his permission.
I guess one can live in Wolfville for several years without seeing him perform. Like a grand wizard of the arts, he rarely descends from his turret for a billed or advertised appearance. Yet the essence of his stories and songs still sits deep within the upper echelons of the Deep Roots Music Cooperative, organizers of Night Kitchens and other advocates of musical performing arts. Countless people know that he still “scrapes the pegs at every turn” and thinks he’s got “a lot to learn”. Magician, candle light, and another tome, probably the codex of the gut string from which he gets glimpses of past and future.
Through my Own Eyes
In the years 2005/2006 I saw several Rick MacNab shows. And a few more since then. One of the shows I saw early on, because the band I was in shared a double bill with Rick, who was performing solo: Voice, stories and guitar. Our band started the sound check, and Rick, who my band thought of as the star of the show, did his setup after. The whole soundcheck ended with a discussion of who was going on stage first and who was going to conclude the night with their set. Everybody wanted to be the “opener” and both acts refused the honour of “headlining” the evening. The problem was finally solved, not by consent, but by Rick MacNab squatting on the stage after his sound check, telling everybody that he was on stage already, that he was going to remain on stage until the audience was seated and that he was the logical and automatic choice for opening the show. Yes! A creative and adaptive thinker! 😎
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