The Speakeasy Party: Little Victor
“Little Victor plays in a style you can rarely hear outside Mississippi juke joints”- Robert Palmer (author of Deep Blues)
He played on Beale Street six days a week with Uncle Ben Perry, the "King of Handy Park." Beale Street wasn't yet the tourist trap it is today. This is why Little Victor is sometimes billed as The Beale street Blues Bopper. He also learned from Herman "Alabama" Alexander, Ben Wilson and Wilroy Sanders. Most of them were irascible characters and few other musicians wanted to play with them. They used distorted sounds, didn't make the"correct" changes and always seemed to be grouchy to their accompanists. Victor didn't mind. He knew this was the real stuff, the music that won't be found in any tablature books and can't be learned by sitting at home listening to records. Drifting down river to North Mississippi, Victor jammed in a variety of deep blues guitar tunings in juke joints with Frank Frost, RL Burnside, T-Model Ford, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough, Laura Dukes, Willie Foster and a host of other backwater bluesmen. He soaked up the blues feeling of these great men and women, applying it to his own repertoire and style.
"Stomping, Muddy Waters-style sounds" -Time Out
Little Victor has been called the King of Grit and the antithesis of meaningless virtuosity. His rich, quirky and inspired downhome blues became well-known to blues audiences through his work with his hero, the legendary Louisiana Red, on the highly celebrated Back To The Black Bayou (2009) and Memphis Mojo (2011).
Little Victor Mac (née Macoggi) had a gipsy-like childhood. His father was an American serviceman who was constantly on the move. Victor also leads a wanderers' life on both sides of the pond. Lots of lucky people have seen him perform in Memphis, Paris, Austin, London, Riga, Hollywood, Oslo, Phoenix, Madrid, Lisbon, Las Vegas, Helsinki, Los Angeles, Milan, Toronto, Berlin, New Orleans, Barcelona, Stockholm, San Antonio and Amsterdam. He has played and lived in many different places but doesn't really have any geographical attachment. He's an itinerant bluesman, an international artist and a man of the world. Victor began singing in 1981 at the tender age of 14 – hence the name "Little" Victor. His first band mostly featured songs from the Sun Records vaults. At 16, he picked up the blues harmonica and started to wail in the style of Jimmy Reed and Junior Parker. He learned the real blues from playing with real bluesmen in Memphis, Tennessee when he was still a young man.
While he is often viewed as somewhat of a renegade who performs not on the tried-and-true blues circuit but generally more at rock clubs, Little Victor’s credentials are impeccable and his talent impressive. He can effortlessly switch from shadowy, primitive low blues to the polished, uptown Beale Street-style R&B of Johnny Ace and Bobby Bland to wild, wicked boogies, and all of it is put across with expressive, soul-deep conviction.
9pm, Doors from 7pm
If you would like to book a table for dining please call the venue on 02086179860
https://www.grey-horse.co.uk/Advance Tickets £12 (+ booking fee)