Macavine Hayes, RIP

A full-throated Piedmont bluesman who lived the life tried and true has passed.

The Music Maker Relief Foundation newsletter reports that Macavine Hayes died in his sleep on Jan. 12 at the age of 65. Tim Duffy of the foundation reports that Hayes “died with his boots on — asleep at a drink house.”

Daniel Bayer took this photo of Hayes during an assignment we handled together in December 2007.

We visited Hayes and his friend, Luther “Captain Luke” Mayer, at Captain Luke’s apartment in the Cleveland Avenue public housing project in Winston-Salem, and the two talked proudly of gigs in Switzerland and Argentina, and one at the Millennium Center in their hometown.

I recall Hayes as being extremely warm and engaging, a man who took you into his orbit and made you feel like part of the party, but also someone who communicated with few words.

At a Saturday afternoon gathering a few days later, Duffy was unstinting in his praise of Hayes.

“Mac is one of those great individuals; he’s always laughing and always smiling,” Duffy said. “He speaks in this old American dialect. It’s hard to understand at first. His father’s a Seminole. He’s from way down near Key West. He has a real store of agricultural knowledge. He plays raw juke blues.”

Duffy also noted Macavine Hayes and Captain Luke’s stamina.

“Luke and Mac, they go real hard,” Duffy said. “They could outlast Janis Joplin. It’s nothing for them to stay up three days straight.”

Some Hayes’ frailty was evident that day. He finished a duet with Big Ron Hunter on the Jimmy Reed classic, “Big Boss Man,” ad-libbed some lyrics, and staggered a bit after laying his guitar down. A younger man came to his side and asked Hayes what he needed.

“The greater spirit,” Hayes replied. “That’s all I need.”

“You got it,” the man said. “It’s already been given.”