Big Dave McLean is one of a handful of musicians who long ago earned a high ranking in the heavyweight division of the Canadian blues scene,and he continues to challenge all comers.
The guitar-and harp-wielding Winnipeg native is a force who instantly commands the audience's attention,yet the husky-voiced musician doesn't have a bombastic delivery.Instead,with one hand firmly on the microphone and his eyes searching every corner of the room, McLean connects with combinations of rhythmic crunch, heartfelt turns of phrase and slaps of stinging steel.
McLean has been praised for his encouragement of aspiring players and singers across the Prairies. He is essentially passing on what was presented to him 30-plus years ago,when legendary bluesman Muddy Waters opened up his world to the young Winnipegger.
All those links in the blues chain bring us to this six-night stand at Blues on Whyte,10329 82nd Ave.It finds McLean teamed with Guitarmageddon, an aggregation of younger players who have all made their mark on the national scene.
Between sets, McLean talked of first hearing a young Shaun Verreault in Saskatoon, when he wasn't of legal age to play the bars.
"We used to sneak Shaun into Bud's on Broadway so he could play a few tunes at the Saturday afternoon jam sessions", says McLean, suggesting that everyone understood Verreault was not your average youngster drawn to the guitar.
"Now, here I am doing this tour with Shaun, and his slide-playing is so ferocious that sometimes I almost stop playing because I get so caught up in what he is doing," added McLean. Verreault has been lifting audiences out of their seats as a member of Wide Mouth Mason, and as a solo peformer, for years.
Rounding out the ensemble are the bass-playing Curtis Scarrow, who spearheaded this tour with McLean, and drummer Scotty Hills, who just came off a European tour with Mclean as part of a package with The Perpetrators.
The foursome can come at a crowd as a full-blown, amps-turned-electric unit, ripping through versions of Got to Love Somebody, Rainin' in My Heart and Chicken Shack, which McLean humorouslyintroduces as Poulet de Chalet.
Then there's a tasty and slightly understated take of That's Alright, the Jimmy Rogers tune that was a staple in the original Muddy Waters band repertoire. In this setting, it finds Verreault slipping in effective Ron Wood-like rhythm licks between McLean's vocal lines.
Mid-song tempo changes, gang vocals on choruses and interesting combinations of guitar styles, some fusing the sting of Texas influences with the tones of sruf guitar, also had the Blues on Whyte crowd applauding appreciatively after every tune in the opening set.
"That we come out with all four of us on guitars and do a sit-down thing for the second set gives the show added depth, and that's where Shaun and Scotty also sing a few tunes. We have a huge repertoire to work with, " said McLean with a grin.
While McLean thinks of this union as a little bit of a "payback" for his time spent as a mentor, the truth is that McLean, Verreault, Scarrow and Hills simply make for a superior blues revue.
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