Formerly a member of the Poverty Bay Blues Club, McCall was surprised a similar club didn’t exist in Hawke’s Bay.
He proposed starting the club on the Musicians of Hawke’s Bay Facebook group, where he came across local musicians Criss and Carmel Lawry.
“We’ve been wanting to do the same thing for years,” Criss said.
McCall said people assume a blues club is where people turn up “willy nilly”, get on stage and improvise together or “jam”.
“That kind of puts a lot of people off.”
He said each night would be curated to celebrate music across the genre.
“Blues had a baby and they called it soul,” Criss said.
“Soul had twins, rock and roll.
“Sort of says it all.”
The club’s opening night featured local bands and musicians playing Chicago blues, contemporary blues, rhythm and blues, country blues, blues rock, and even blues a cappella.
“It’s going to be a fun night with local names known by local people,” Carmel said.
McCall said the next event was already half booked, but he still invited people to get involved.
McCall hoped national and international acts would play the club meetings eventually.
He also wanted to get young musicians along to share the lessons of the blues.
He said budding musicians can learn improvisational skills and how to listen to other musicians while on stage from the blues.
“That’s hard to get.”
McCall said the club would be a welcoming environment where people could get feedback to help hone their stagecraft.
“They’ll be better musicians for it, whether their heart is in the blues or not.
“It’s something I think that can really, really help them grow as musicians.”
Each concert costs $5 on the door.
McCall said there would be an annual membership and other options available.
“But it’s going to be priced to be accessible to everyone.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.
