3x UK Blues Award Winner, #1 recording artist, CRA Award Nominated radio presenter and Take Me To The River All Star
Rising British Soul/Blues Artist Makes His Mark
Oli “Mississippi” MacDonald from London, England speaks quietly but makes music with real gravitas. Mac (as friends call him) is a rising star, having been honoured with a session by Cerys Matthews on her BBC Radio 2 Blues show, championed by Mojo Magazine, and given 3 UK Blues Awards. Both his fellow musicians and many music industry pundits predict big things for MacDonald.
His 2023 album Heavy State Loving Blues demonstrated how Mac’s gravitas has developed, matching his remarkable guitar playing with soulful vocals and strong original songs: here is a rising talent making his mark on the soul/blues scene.
“I first got interested in guitar when I was a youngster at school and grunge and Britpop were what everyone was listening to,” recalls Mac, “but I was more interested in what I heard in my folks’ record collection – B.B. King and Al Green, classic American blues and soul artists. I never dreamed of being in Nirvana or Oasis, instead I wanted to go to Chicago and see the clubs where Muddy Waters used to play!”
MacDonald learnt guitar from studying the Kings – B.B., Albert, Freddie – and Albert Collins. He listened intently to the likes of ZZ Hill and O.V. Wright, Southern soul singers whose voices possessed a blues inflection.
“They express themselves with real power yet remain so eloquent and soulful,” says MacDonald. “No histrionics or showing off – the greats sing in a way that conveys the song as if a friend was telling you of their trials and tribulations. Same for my favourite guitarists – I value the stories you can tell with the guitar, not just the riffs you can play”
Mac, happy to be a tortoise not a hare, worked away at his craft, playing locally and privately pressing recordings, a suburban bluesman with a family to support. Then, post-lockdown, he raised his game, signed to Another Planet Music and started getting booked beyond the local pub/club circuit he’d cut his teeth on. His APM debut album Do Right, Say Right was released in late-2021 and won accolades across the UK, Europe and the US. Guesting on US harp player/vocalist Steve Bailey’s Crazy About You album (a tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson II) demonstrated that Mac could hold his own with the Americans.
Then came Heavy State Loving Blues and I Got What You Need – here MacDonald demanded and grabbed attention: he is the most exciting British blues guitarist in years as well as a singer and songwriter of considerable note. And never less than soulful.
“I’ve been out there grafting for years,” notes MacDonald, “and I’ve finished my apprenticeship and am ready to play alongside my heroes. Veteran Memphis soul singer Vaneese Thomas – Rufus Thomas’ youngest daughter – guested on Heavy State. This led to Mac being invited to showcase at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and record a track with Freddie King’s brother Benny Turner. I also got to meet Boo Mitchell at Royal Studios.”
Boo is the son and heir of the late Willie Mitchell, the Memphis maestro who defined the sound of 70s Southern soul by producing hits on Al Green, Otis Clay, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright and others at Royal Studios. Mac and Boo hit it off and an arrangement was made for Mac to record at Royal with the Hi Rhythm Section and then to join the Take Me To The River All Stars, playing alongside Hi Rhythm, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Taj Mahal, Eric Gales and more.
In 2025, celebrating his third UK Blues Award, Mac released Oli Mac Presents Slim Pickin’. Charting at #1 in the RMR Acoustic Blues category, RnR magazine awarded the record a coveted 5 stars stating “Mississippi MacDonald has produced a true nugget of acoustic folk blues… all ten tracks represent 21st century blues of the highest order. If only all side projects were this good”.
Oli “Mississippi” MacDonald’s fluid fingers, a singular voice and songwriting talent mark him as the new voice of British soul-blues – note his name.
What They Say About Mac
Blues Matters Magazine said Mississippi is “a UK Blues-Soul Master who consistently turns out top quality music with an eye and ear steeped in Memphis Soul”
“Mississippi MacDonald represents the next generation of great guitarists who hail from the UK…wholly authentic, he’s earned the right to claim the name” Living Blues, USA
“He has a rich full voice and plays some stunning guitar, but most of all his heart and soul are filled with the blues as it should be played” Blues In Britain
“Contemporary British bluesman Mississippi MacDonald proves he’s as legit as they come on his hard-charging new record HSLB…a compelling, engaging artist who is going to make a lot of new friends with this record. Make sure you’re one of them” Rock and Blues Muse
“Hell Yeah!….fabulous, very Albert King circa his Stax days and in my world, it doesnt get much better than that”, Blues Matters!
“Superior soul-blues singing and songwriting” Mojo, Issue 345
“Mississippi MacDonald has very capably demonstrated that he is a next generation blues man carrying on the soul blues traditions of his predecessors.” Blues Blast Magazine (US)
“Born in London, “Mississippi” MacDonald may have been emersed in Brit pop as a child, but he’s one of the deepest, true-blue and soulful artists in Europe today. A two-time UK Blues Award winner, he absolutely shines, delivering stinging single-note runs on a six-string while delivering vocals in a honeyed style that would make his forebears in Memphis smile” Chicago Blues Guide
“MacDonald’s blues ring with authenticity — quite an achievement considering it’s mostly original music. He’s a powerful, soulful vocalist, and his guitar work is stunning” BluesRoadHouse.com
“British musicians have long had a burning passion for American roots music and none more than Mississippi MacDonald….. [he] continues to carry the torch as a next generation blues man”. Bluestownmusic.nl
Mac Gallery
Images: Pierre Wuyts, Chris Griffith, John Bull, Bradley Payne, Ron Milsom