The power of user-generated community and content is amazing. Inspiring. Profound, even.
In 2011, not long after starting this blog, I decided to "embark" on the beginnings of what would be an all-encompassing project to document Mackey Feary's entire discography, "including special appearances, producer credits, foreign releases and unreleased recordings." So in June of that year, I created this page, and started to compile subsequent pages that recorded album covers, interviews, and related blog posts.
The farthest I got with the project — well, it wasn't very far: I managed to create this discography (which I'll re-post below), as well as create a Facebook Group called Absolutely Mackey: The Definitive Guide to Mackey Feary.
In 2011, I wasn't fully aware of, or hadn't quite grasped the power of Discogs.com.
Nor did I fully understand the power of a Facebook Group.
As Aloha Got Soul grew over the years, my efforts on this Mackey project languished. The page I'd created suffered from my own neglect, not because I wasn't a fan of Mack's music, but because I suppose I wasn't willing to devote the necessary time and effort to really dive in. There were so many things to dive into during those early years, that I failed to focus on the Absolutely Mackey thing I'd started.
Several years later, probably during a somewhat regular "clean up" of the AGS website — something that I do every year, it feels like — I came across the Mackey Feary page. Looking at it, I remembered how back in 2011 there wasn't really any place on the internet that offered the essentials of Mackey's music: the discography, the album covers, the special appearances and international recordings. Well, my page hadn't achieved that, either.
But wait — what about the Facebook Group that I'd launched along with the page?
To my amazement, the Absolutely Mackey group on Facebook was alive, and well, and... thriving.
Fans and friends from near and far had found the group and jumped right in with stories, pictures, and homemade recordings of Mackey's music career. The group I'd create somewhat casually had become a living resource and memorial of the late singer's music and memory.
At this moment, I realized just how powerful a Facebook Group could be. To think — Mackey's loving fans, friends and family had gathered together to share their memories without any external force pushing them to do so. It was a a beautiful thing.
Fast forward to 2020, and working with my label partner, Don Hernandez, in reaching out to artists in hopes of licensing music fro reissue, brought me to a big conclusion: Don needed to join Facebook.
He'd chosen not to be on Facebook for whatever reason, and had almost no experience with the social media platform. But — how important the platform has been in my ability to contact musicians like Mike Lundy, Don Slepian, Murray Compoc Spencer (Tender Leaf), Stacie Johnson (Lemuria), and so many more.
So we got him on Facebook (you can friend him here), and Absolutely Mackey came to mind again. "You gotta check out this group, it's wild! Fans have been posting all kinds of memories, tributes, stories — it's been thriving on its for years!".
Don joined the group and immediately was inspired to re-record a mix he'd made dedicated to Mackey Feary (they call him DJ Vinyl Don, after all). Although he'd originally made the mix a while ago, only after connecting with Mackey's fans in the Facebook Group did he feel the urgency and compassion to share his tribute with them.
With a brand new mix to share, we posted it to YouTube and Don shared it to the group. The crowd went wild (as they say, I guess), and the response immense! Nothing but positivity flowed, and I believe it solidified Don's realization of how powerful Facebook can be. (Despite all the negative press and issues the platform faces, it still is a critical means of connecting with musicians, especially those from generations before us.)
To follow up on the excitement created by Don's mix, we've decided to feature Mackey Feary's music for this week's A Song A Day on YouTube. Don's curated a solid lineup of tunes from Kalapana, Shine, Macky Feary Band, and Mackey's solo albums.
Listen to the mixtape on YouTube, Soundcloud or Mixcloud.
And be sure to catch the 7+ tunes by Mack on the A Song A Day playlist.
Rest in Peace, Mackey!