Blues Legend Live in Barnstaple
Described by The Guardian as ‘a master of the contemporary blues’, Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald comes to the Gallery Sessions at Barnstaple’s Queen’s Theatre on Thursday 12th May for an exclusive solo performance. Providing guitars, bass, keyboards, and vocals, Little Axe is the return to the blues that Skip grew up with and learned from his father. Born Bernard Alexander in 1949, Dayton, Ohio, Skip McDonald learned to play the blues on his father's guitar from the age of 8, although by the time he was 12 years old he had opted to perform doo-wop. But from picking up a guitar as a child, and returning to his roots with Little Axe, there has been a long twisting road. McDonald, along with bass player Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc formed the house band for the pioneering rap label Sugar Hill, providing the music for some of the most seminal records of the era by Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata and others. From there he worked closely with Adrian Sherwood on many of projects for the On-U Sound label, as well as spearheading the band Tackhead and working with Living Colour. In 2010 Skip McDonald recorded Bought For a Dollar, Sold For a Dime, an album which covers his extended career, with new versions of old tracks. “I see myself as a time traveller,” he says. “I started out live and went into studio culture. I’ve gone all the way back and come full circle, though this time I’ve got the advantage of technology as well. Hey, I’m even doing covers of my own songs. It’s all part of the same puzzle.”
Tickets are priced at £9.40 plus a 60p Love Arts fund payment. Students and young persons’ tickets are just £5. For further information or to book, call the Box Office on 01271 324242 or visit www.northdevontheatres.org.uk
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