'JoJo Man: South Africa Calling: Surfing the Big Merc

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

South Africa Calling: Surfing the Big Merc

Secret Stories: back to my adopted homelands. A two-tone Mercedes and an open road: a small PA and an old National steel guitar: the blues is back in town. Ride with me on the world's biggest little blues tour as I visit places both strange and familiar, mild and wild. Check in here for the developing schedule, or Follow along on the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

media sidebar...

Scroll this right side column to find ALL AUTHORIZED Doc MacLean promo materials, links, contacts and digital assets. BELOW: find quick use, branded, print ready tour posters and listings blurbs, and a selection of quality, hi-res PAID images... Click in the Links section to download hi-res images as needed. Also find tour logo, tour description; developing route schedule; bios, promos, and AUTHORIZED videos below in this Sidebar. Visit the "Links" section below for complete listing of available materials. Also find below: reviews, docs, past tours, media, booking, technical and legal contacts, tour partners and sponsors...

secret stories/ jojo man blues tour...

Telling songs and singing stories. This blues came from the Mississippi delta. But before that, it came from Africa. Passed down from mouth to mouth. More than music. A placement of the human spirit. Doc's early mentors were the grandchildren of slaves. And now: this continuing journey between the dreamscapes and the songlines: between the blurs of the Highway and the sounds of the wheels: The JoJo Man: naming unnamed roads: witching for water.

The JoJo Man Blues Tour– Doc MacLean's seventh African tour– saw him travelling another 20 thousand km by land before launching into Namibia. Now, Secret Stories continues North for an epic, second tour leg: festivals and concerts across Canada, Ireland and the UK. Back in South Africa with the swallows in the spring. The 2023-5 chapters of the "World's Biggest Little Blues Tour" comprise over 200 shows across 7 countries.

...download this Tour Description...

bookings...

Dates are currently available for all territories. Accepting dates and expressions of interest from all territories now now. ASK here.

Routing is largely built around early fills. Check the "where it's going" Developing Schedule in the sidebar below to see what dates might be available for you. All non-listed dates, TBAs, and TBC expired contract dates may be for sale.

Worldwide bookings are ongoing. Agency interest is welcomed. ASK.

South Africa, Ireland, UK, Europe:
Doc MacLean Music

North America (festivals only):
Music Marketing Int.

Namibia:
Tribe One Productions

Australia, Tasmania
All Things Entertainment.

where it's going/developing schedule

2023-24 Nat. Steel "Jojo Man" Tour

Cape Town, Tour Launch

January 2023- South Africa

7 Jan, The Courtyard, McGregor
8 Jan, House Concert, Montagu
13 Jan, Gecko, Hermanus
14 Jan, House Concert, Pringle Bay
15 Jan, Stellenbosch
16 Jan, Barleycorn Folk Club, Cape Town
18 Jan, House of Machines, Cape Town
19 Jan, Die Boer, Durbanville
20 Jan, The Tasting Room, Stanford
21 Jan, Camel Rock, Cape Town
22 Jan, Villa Pascal Theatre, Durbanville
24 Jan, The Overlander, Vleiland
25 Jan, The Station, Calitzdorp
26 Jan, La Dolce Vita, Oudtshoorn
27 Jan, Mel's Place, Plett Bay
28 Jan, Pig and Whistle, Bathurst
29 Jan, Happy Hogs, Hogsback
31 Jan, KC Italia, Port Alfred

February- SA

1 Feb, Bathurst Arms, Bathurst
2 Feb, SSS Top Bar, Grahamstown
3 Feb, Crawfords Beach Lodge, Chintsa
4 Feb, House Concert, Gonubie
5 Feb, Shabanga Lodge, East London
8 Feb, Gonubie Hotel, Gonubie
9 Feb, Comfort Zone, Mthatha
10 Feb, OppiePlaas, Haga Haga
11 Feb, Eagles Ridge, Stutterheim
12 Feb, Jakaleza, Crossroads
14 Feb, Rhodes Hotel, Rhodes
24 Feb, Karoo Artist's Cafe, Philippolis
25 Feb, Welkom by Onze Rust, Bloemfontein
26 Feb, Concerts in the Park, Pretoria
26 Feb, Back to the Blues, Hartebeestpoort
26 Feb, Kearney's, Hartebeestpoort

March- SA, Namibia

1 Mar, Mpumalanga
2 Mar, Rocking Box Saloon, Barberton
3 Mar, Cafe Barcelona, Pretoria
4 Mar, Jarr Bar, Pretoria
5 Mar, Otter Lake German, Pretoria
7 Mar, Jozi Show Bar, Johannesburg
8 Mar, Bush Pub, Bloemfontein
9 Mar, Skemer, Bethlehem
10 Mar, Rosetta Hotel, Rosetta
11 Mar, Voetstoots, Clarens Inn, Clarens
12 Mar, Chillax, Bloemfontein
18 Mar, Owl Backpackers, Nieu-Bethesda
20 Mar, Karoo Saloon, Barrydale
24 Mar, Suntouched Inn, Napier
25 Mar, Cottage Club, Fish Hoek
29 Mar, Sound Garden, Swakopmund, Namibia
31 Mar, Fishy Corner, Henties Bay, Namibia

April- Namibia- Ireland

1 Apr, The Lighthouse Group, Swakopmund, Namibia
5 Apr, The Handle Bar, Windhoek, Namibia
6 Apr, The Rare Smokey Mare, Windhoek
7 Apr, Tiger's Reef, Swakopmund, Namibia
9 Apr, Godenfang, Walvis Bay, Namibia
11 Apr, Joe's Beer House, Windhoek, Namibia
12 Apr, Joe's Beer House, Windhoek, Namibia
13 Apr, Joe's Beer House, Windhoek, Namibia
14 April, Wolfshack, Windhoek, Namibia
15 April, Goodfellas, Windhoek, Namibia

May/June- Ireland, United Kingdom

5 May, Cottage Club, Letterkenny, Ire.
6 May, Chandlers House, Rathfriland
7 May, Enler Delta Blues Club, Belfast
11 May, White Horse, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
12 May, House, Cork Co.
19 May, Hot Spot, Greystones, Dublin
25 May, The Vic, Tramore, Waterford Co.
28 May, The Sky, Wexford Town
1 June, House, Sligo
2 June, Intl. Guinness Blues on the Bay Festival, No. 7 Duke St., Warrenpoint
9 June, Ryans Bar, Cobh, Co. Cork

22 July, Villa Vida, Sunderland, ON Canada
August- Netherlands, Belgium

19 Aug, Villa Vida, Sunderland, ON Canada
Sept/Oct- Western Canada (BC/Alberta)

14 Sept, Vancouver, BC
15 Sept, Vancouver, BC
16 Sept, Vancouver, BC
21 Sept- 30 Sept, Van. Island BC

30 Oct, House Concert, Prescott, ON

November 2023-January 2024, South Africa

17 Nov, Soundgarden, Cape Town
19 Nov, Daisy Jones, Stellenbosch
22 Nov, Striped Horse, Muizenburg
23 Nov, Private Event, Strand
24 Nov, Karoo Saloon, Barrydale
25 Nov, Dixie Blues Fest, Barrydale
26 Nov, Theatre Villa Pascal, Durbanville
29 Nov, The Station, Calitzdorp
30 Nov, La Dolce Vita, Oudtshoorn
1 Dec, Private Event, Stanford
2 Dec, Hangklip, Pringle Bay
3 Dec, Koedoeskloof, Ladismith
6 Dec, Overlander Bush Pub, Vlieland
7 Dec, Mel's Place, Plett Bay
8 Dec, The Stage, Bathurst
9 Dec, The Stage, Bathurst
14 Dec, Thornwood Valley BBQ, East London
15 Dec, TBA, Chintsa
16 Dec, Caffeine Cafe, Kenton
17 Dec, Away With the Fairies, Hogsback
19 Dec, Boetie's Pub, Nieu-Bethesda
20 Dec, Private Event, Graaf-Reinet
28 Dec, Chillax, Bloemfontein
29 Dec, Voetstoots, Clarens
30 Dec, Rosetta Hotel, KZN
31 Dec, Rosetta Hotel, KZN
3 Jan, Private Event, Durban
4 Jan, Shapes of Africa, Mt. Moreland
5 Jan, Farm Concert, Eshowe
6 Jan, Busk Inn, Durban North
7 Jan, German Club Muskateers, Durban
10 Jan, Rocky Ridge, Ramsgate
12 Jan, CoffeeShack, Coffee Bay
13 Jan, Gonubie House, East London
14 Jan, Goat Shed, Kenton
18 Jan, Plett Surf Cafe, Plett Bay
19 Jan, Buffelfontein Art Gallery
20 Jan, Cottage Club, Fishoek, Cape Town
21 Jan, Seaweed and Salt, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
24 Jan, Triggerfish, Strand
27 Jan, House Concert, Plumstead

February 2024, Namibia
7 Feb, Windhoek

March 2024, Australia

Secret Stories Blues Tour

June-Aug 2024, Ireland/UK

28 Jun, Belfast City Blues Festival
28 Jun, Madden's Bar, Belfast
29 Jun, Belfast City Blues Festival
29 Jun, Belfast Barge, Belfast
30 Jun, Belfast City Blues Festival
4 July, Letterkenny Blues Festival
4 July, McGinley's Bar, Letterkenny
5 July, Letterkenny Blues Festival
5 July, Kinnegar Brewery, Letterkenny
13 July, Marine Bar, Whitehead
14 July, Ownies, Carrickfergus
16 July, Railroad Club, Cookstown
17 July, Kiwis Brews Bar, Portrush
20 July, American Bar, Belfast
21 July, Spirit Store, Dundalk
24 July, Shannon Springs Hotel, Shannon
26 July, Casey's of Wexford, Wexford
27 July, Katty Barry's, Waterford
2 Aug, Poor Relations, Cork
3 Aug, The Artist Studio, Cobh
5 Aug, Cronin's Bar, Crosshaven
8 Aug, Arthur's Blues & Jazz, Dublin
9 Aug, Howth Blues & Roots Fest, Dublin
9 Aug, The Abbey, Howth
10 Aug, Howth Blues & Roots Fest, Dublin
10 Aug, McNeills

Aug- Nov 2024, Eastern & Maritime Canada

15 Aug, Southside Beggars Banquet, Toronto, ON
6 Sept, Southside Shuffle Festival, Port Credit, ON
19 Sept, Legion Hall, Wallaceburg, ON, w. John Gardiner
21 Sept, Juke Joint, Acton, ON
23 Sept, House Concert, Montreal, QC
25 Sept, Abbey Cafe & Gallery, Fredericton, NB
26 Sept, Five & Dime, Saint John, NB
27 Sept, St. Andrews Brewing Co, St. Andrews, NB
28 Sept, Red Herring, St. Andrews, NB
29 Sept, The Cottage, Kingston, NB
30 Sept, House Concert, Durham Bridge, NB
1 Oct, Laundromat Expresso Bar, Moncton, NB
3 Oct, House Concert, Red Bank, NB
4 Oct, TBC, Miramichi, NB
5 Oct, House Concert, Belfast, PEI
11 Oct, Big Blue House, Maitland, NS
12 Oct, ECBS House Concert, NS
17 Oct, Firkenstein Brewery, Bridgewater, NS
18 Oct, Bent Ridge Winery, Windsor, NS
19 Oct, E. Coast Amateur Boxing Club, Bedford, NS
23 Oct, The Narrows, Halifax, NS
25 Oct, Colleen's, Halifax, NS
26 Oct, TBA, New Glasgow, NS
27 Oct, Seawind Landing, Charlotte's Cove, NS
1 Nov, House Concert, Amherst, NS
2 Nov, Second Wind, Bristol, NB
4 Nov, TBC, Montreal, QC
6 Nov, TBC, Killaloe, ONT
7 Nov, Music in the City, Toronto Metropolitan University, ONT
8 Nov, Ganny Hotel, Port Hope, ON
9 Nov, Old Church Theatre, Trenton, ON
10 Nov, Sunday Sessions, Kingston, ON
14 Nov, The Cove, Westport, ON
15 Nov, TBA, Townships, QC
16 Nov, Morin Heights Legion Hall, QC
23 Nov, MBTB, Underground HC, Uxbridge, ON

Dec 2024-Mar 2025, South Africa

5 Dec, 196 Victoria Rd., Woodstock, Cape Town
Theatre Villa Pascal, Durbanville
La Dolse Vita, Oudtshoorn
Secret Garden, Cape Town
Cottage Club, Cape Town
Away With the Fairies, Hogsback
SSS Top Club, Grahamstown
Porcupine Rest Camp, Seweweekspoort
Mtuzini Dr. Baker
Occidental Bar, Kimberley
McAffe's - Mel Botha, Hermanus
Karoo Saloon, Barrydale
Cafe Barcelona, Pretoria

All dates subject to change. Schedule reflects current planning 06/11/24. Pending routing, all non-listed dates are available. Time/territory exclusions available: ask. TBC/TBA dates may be available: ask.

about the artist...

Forty-six years ago Doc MacLean was playing Charlie Patton songs in Son House's living room. From back porch to big porch. The storyteller. An emotional remapping of contemporary delta blues. At one time Blues Revue Magazine called him the "Prince of Darkness." There's redemption here beyond the simple, acoustic medium– and an appeal that reaches well beyond the Crossroads.

Doc MacLean has performed and recorded with a who's who of first and second generation blues, roots and gospel artists such as Sam Chatmon, Peg Leg Sam, and Blind John Davis. Among many others, he supported Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and BB King. With Grammy winning producer Colin Linden and members of the Canned Heat and Mavis Staples bands he then recorded the groundbreaking and influential, "Narrow House" album.

Now best known for his solo work as a songwriter and storyteller, MacLean has more recently recorded in Africa. Last year his delta blues/west Africa single, "Africa Blues," was playlisted by blues, folk, and world music stations across four continents. Doc's current release, a Namibian recording, "Son House Died at Detroit," is starting to spin, too. This real deal, old school troubadour still self drives to hundreds of shows every year... Page down for additional bio details.

Choose print ready Short, Medium, or Detailed artist bios from the Links section below. Or...

...download this bio...

witching for water... Artist Statement...

Letting go. How fast the year. Dreamlines smeared on the map. Songlines in the margins. Dealers. And healers. Bruises. This thing we call Blues. I've rolled the bones again. Over a hundred and fifty, mostly solo shows: over two years: and this time they're ripping out across South Africa, some of its border states, south to Australia, and then north with the weather to Ireland, the UK and Europe. No place too large, too small, too grand or too humble. Yeah, North America is in the rear view mirror. When you roll the bones you can lose your heart, or find it somewhere.

Dust in my blood, I'm pushing back out into the desert. The Great Karoo is calling again and again: and the Kalahari: and then the rest of it. Now, these songs are witching for water in some dry places. It's healing music, these Blues. But the Blues is also this journey: close to the wire. The hot wire. A journey through life. This place where all things are possible. Or should be. Places where stories hang like dust in the air: drawn to the heart by the rattle of the Bones: places where witches still sit by candlelight and chant: where the night is still dark, and still hides mysterious things.

...download Artist Statement...

more about the artist...

Over a performing career which spans nearly half a century, Doc MacLean has appeared at many of the world's most significant folk, blues and roots music festivals, but he is perhaps best known for his relentless touring habits, and for his rejection of a First World music business that would reduce blues to a colourful genre.

In recent years, MacLean has driven over 100 thousand km across southern Africa, taking it for his own. He's now played almost all of its largest festivals, smallest juke joints, coolest theatres, and best regarded presentation stages. The thing that has been carried is again returned. "No venue too large, too small, too grand or too humble." Even places lost in the folds of the map.

Writing from the dark side of the road, Doc MacLean remains a songster from the delta tradition. A traveler. Gifted as a youth by the grandchildren of slaves, MacLean now sings his own stories and tells his own songs in his own voice. His mostly resophonic, finger style slide guitar pays sonic homage to Patton, House, and Big Joe Williams, while moving forward in a roots based, yet contemporary context.

To MacLean, the Blues is not a genre: it is a condition of the human spirit, a healing music, a journey of the soul, a container of past, present, and future. JoJo Man surfs the space between the dreamlines and the songlines: not practised, not learned: but channeled and told in the moment. Secret Stories are carried here to be lost and found.

Page up for additional bio details.

Choose print ready Short, Medium, or Detailed artist bios from the Links to Everything section. Or...

...download this bio...

small and not so small print...

PROMOTION

1) Promotional Resources
The Info Links section of this website (above) contains ALL AUTHORIZED DIGITAL ASSETS. Find all bios, statements, descriptions, videos, images, logos, and USER READY POSTERS for Doc MacLean's 2023-24, National Steel "JoJo" Blues Tour.

Provided components may be used to produce custom in house promos, posters, or illustrations for print or web as needed, or be used by print or web media for listings, advance stories or for review purposes associated with Doc MacLean's 2023, National Steel "JoJo" Blues Tour. Photos in these Links are PAID AND CLEAR for all applications, but should credit the photographers where possible. All materials are copyright Doc MacLean, 2023. Some components such as tour logos are made available in a variety of formats including .jpg, .eps, .pdf, with clear or solid backgrounds.

In the interests of effectively branding and marketing this Tour, please DO NOT use random materials harvested from the internet to promote shows or appearances. If you can't find what you need or want– please ASK.

Additional links are provided to detailed biographies, feature stories, reviews, audio samples, and social media platforms. If it is useful, these links may be shared on your newsletters, websites, or to local media. We ask that all presenters and venues RESPECT THE ARTIST by having in-house promos and on-line notices up well in advance of show dates.

2) "Quick use" materials are provided for fast media Listings use: Blurbs and Pics. Send these to your local promotion partners.

3) "Quick use" tour posters (horizontal and vertical) are provided for rapid, easy, in-house use. Just add the particulars of time/date/venue/tickets and print/post as needed. Or use a Sharpie– just get them up, in-house/on-list! In-house/on-list displays and posters are the most important element of selling small shows. Two weeks advance, please!

SOCIAL MEDIA

4) Facebook Events, Instagram, etc... Our lists, dates and locations are international and a typical tour has 100 or more shows. Presenters and venues are local with local lists and local followers. While a local act can do an Event to bring friends and fans out, a touring act cannot. Please understand that Venue Events are a Venue responsibility. Presenters are expected to post an Event to their own social media sites in a timely fashion. We can assist if required, please let us know well in advance.

5) It's all teamwork. We all want to have a successful show. Let us know how we can best help to promote. The Tour retains a high profile music publicist for all African shows, but you are the expert when it comes to your local audience.

6) Three elements kind of mash together now– In House/On-List posters, email releases to Local Print/Radio, and a timely Social media plug. Every show is different, with different requirements. We look forward to working with you.

Doc MacLean's 2023-4 National Steel "JoJo Man" Blues Tour

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

South Africa Calling: Surfing the Big Merc