Biography
Born on 19 June 1954 in Fort Worth, Texas, guitarist Bobby Mack initially faced dismissal as an inferior Stevie Ray Vaughan. Over time the Texan player carved out a distinct style through a pair of favorably received studio albums and forceful stage shows alongside his group Night Train. Throughout the 1970s Mack performed blues-rock material inside the cover outfit Thrills before launching an Austin-centered blues ensemble of his own. At that moment Austin functioned as the hub for an underground blues scene that also encompassed Stevie Ray Vaughan and his sibling Jimmy, who later founded the Fabulous Thunderbirds alongside Kim Wilson; the casual setting of spontaneous jam sessions and shared bills supplied crucial development for an emerging blues musician. After stepping away from music for a short period, Mack assembled Night Train by recruiting bassist Danny Turansky and former Thrills drummer Steve Fulton. As lineup changes continued, he altered the band’s name to Bobby Mack & The Night Train to strengthen its profile and issued a six-track mini-album under the new moniker in 1985. After the fragmented New Zealand-only appearance of Say What?, which incorporated demo recordings made with the Neville Brothers, Mack issued the live set Red Hot And Humid. Captured during an Austin radio broadcast, the album’s reception secured a deal with the Dutch imprint Provogue. Following the Provogue debut Honey Trap, Mack established Palindrome Records to handle domestic distribution and subsequently contributed to multiple Palindrome projects, among them production work for harpist Willie Foster. His late-1990s album Sugar All Night stood out for its emphasis on original songs.
Albums
