While it may look like Doug is born into the role, he hasn’t actually been elected Mayor of the historic city in the East of England, but the real Mayor did invite him for tea within the inner sanctum of Norwich Town Hall.
Mayor Brenda Arthur graciously poured tea into antique gilt-edged cups while Doug slowly open his guitar case revealing a wood-body National Resophonic Tricone guitar. We all leaned forward so we didn’t miss a single note, and as we did the sounds of the bustling market outside of the window faded. All that remained was Doug’s lilting ballad filling the room.
For several minutes we held our tea in mid-air. Nobody dared sip or risk the sound of cup on saucer.
And as the final chord rang out the Mayor wiped a tear from her eye and inhaled deeply.
We all sat quietly, hanging onto precious moments before the spell was entirely broken.
Minutes later we walked the short distance to BBC Radio Norfolk. In Norwich everything is close–by with the whole of the charming city centre housed within the boundary of its Roman walls.
For half an hour Doug recounted stories and played the blues into the microphone as we watched from behind the glass of the producer’s office. You couldn’t help but think that any aspiring artist has a lesson to learn from Macleod: The ability to speak to everyone personally, as if sharing a secret is rare and precious.
As we walked through the market toward the venue for the evening I recalled the conversation that I’d shared with Doug at the NAMM Show in CA earlier in the year. G7th and National Resophonic had booths next to each other in Hall E and having been their UK distributor in the early days, I always made a point of saying hello to my old friends. Doug was sitting there with a toothpick in his mouth, playing a Tricone. He told me that he would be touring in the UK and we resolved that G7th the Capo Company would sponsor the event to ensure that his audience in the East of England wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see and hear one of the World’s greatest living entertainers.
The venue for the evening was the renowned 17th Century 'Murderers' pub on Norwich's historic Timber Hill, where Doug received a standing ovation at the pub's weekly 'Fine City Blues' event.
What an incredible Thursday night!
