- Winston-Salem BluesCaptain Luke, Macavine Hayes, and Whistlin’ Britches
Captain Luke, Macavine Hayes, Whistlin’ Britches, and I settled down to a table in the small front room, lit by Christmas lights strung around the ceiling, r&b playing on the boombox. It was a Saturday morning in April, and the three elderly bluesmen had offered to show me around the drinkhouses of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A round of “chicken,” or moonshine, was ordered, and Macavine and Whistlin’ Britches were one-upping each other with insults and dirty jokes. Captain Luke played it cool in the corner, sipping a can of Natural Light and smoking a cigar. After his doctor had ordered him to give up the moonshine years ago, Luke made the switch to beer, which helped out with his hobby of fashioning ashtrays, lamps, and model-sized cars from old beer cans.
Captain Luke and Macavine have been friends for decades, playing gigs together in juke joints and drinkhouses around the North Carolina Piedmont: Luke singing in his deep baritone voice and Macavine playing a rough and tumble acoustic guitar. They met Haskel Thompson (nicknamed “Whistlin’ Britches” by Captain Luke because of the way his pants swish together when he walks) a few years ago through the Music Maker Relief Foundation, a nonprofit in Hillsborough, North Carolina, that helps pioneering southern musicians gain recognition and meet their day-to-day needs. Haskel’s unique talent is accompanying his friends’ songs by clicking his tongue in highly complex rhythms with a sound as loud as a drum rim shot (and by dancing suggestively). Over the past fifteen years the three of them have played both locally and internationally with Music Maker—everywhere from Argentina and Europe to Australia.
Our visit to the drinkhouses was two years ago now. These days Luke doesn’t spend as much time driving his friends around in his Buick and stopping by their favorite haunts for a drink and a couple laughs. After Haskel had his leg amputated from complications with diabetes, he was forced to move from Luke’s apartment to an assisted-living facility, where his old friends would visit him and sometimes break into an impromptu performance in the courtyard. But he has learned to dance with his prosthetic leg and still makes it to local gigs. And Captain Luke still finds time to entertain his new fans around the world, touring with Music Maker. This past January, though, Macavine Hayes passed away peacefully after spending his last afternoon in a drinkhouse. He will be missed. [End Page 75]
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